Computer Fundamentals for Placements – Operating System (OS) MCQs with Answers

Ans: B

The kernel is the core component of the OS. It manages all essential tasks like process management, memory management, and disk management, acting as the bridge between user applications and the hardware.

Ans: C

The process scheduler is responsible for selecting a process from a queue and allocating the CPU to it. This is a crucial part of multiprogramming.

Ans: D

In a priority-based scheduling algorithm, a low-priority process may never get to run if there is a continuous stream of high-priority processes waiting to be executed, leading to starvation.

Ans: B

A deadlock occurs when two or more processes are holding a resource and are waiting for another resource that is held by another process in the same group.

Ans: B

Paging is a memory management scheme that avoids external fragmentation. It divides the logical address space of a process into equal-sized blocks called pages.

Ans: A

System calls provide the means for a user program to request services from the operating system, such as creating a process, accessing files, or performing I/O operations.

Ans: B

External fragmentation occurs when there is enough total free memory to satisfy a request, but the memory is not contiguous. The free space is broken up into small, scattered pieces.

Ans: A

A mutex (Mutual Exclusion) is a synchronization primitive used to protect shared resources from simultaneous access by multiple threads or processes. It ensures that only one thread can be in a critical section at a time.

Ans: C

Multitasking is the ability of an operating system to manage multiple tasks (processes) at once, appearing to execute them concurrently by rapidly switching between them.

Ans: B

Virtual memory is a memory management technique that allows a program to execute partially. It gives the illusion that the program has access to a larger address space than is physically available in the main memory.