Computer Operating System Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: MEM /C

MEM /C classifies memory by program, listing what is loaded and how much each occupies - which shows the order in which the resident programs went in. MEM /P pages the output rather than classifying it.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Config.sys

CONFIG.SYS is read early in the boot, before the command interpreter, and holds the statements that configure the system itself - DEVICE lines loading drivers, and FILES, BUFFERS and STACKS settings. AUTOEXEC.BAT runs afterwards and holds ordinary commands.

Answer: D

Correct answer: All of the above

High-level languages win on every count listed: programs are shorter and quicker to write, so fewer people and less time are needed; the compiler’s diagnostics and the readable source make debugging and documentation better; and because the compiler hides the machine, the same source can be recompiled for a different processor.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Bootstrap loader

When the machine is switched on, a tiny bootstrap loader in ROM runs first. It loads a slightly larger loader from a fixed place on disk, which in turn loads the operating system - each stage pulling in the next, which is where the name comes from.

Answer: A

Correct answer: you can set different size for each recycle bin

Each drive keeps its own recycle bin, and the settings dialog lets you configure the drives independently, giving each one a different percentage of its capacity for deleted files. What you cannot do is choose which bin a deleted file goes to - that is decided by the drive it was deleted from - or nominate one as a default.

Answer: C

Correct answer: COM, EXE, BAT

Given a name with no extension, COMMAND.COM looks for .COM first, then .EXE, then .BAT, in each directory of the search path in turn. So a .COM file shadows an .EXE of the same name in the same directory.

Answer: B

Correct answer: sectors

Each concentric track on a disk is divided into sectors, and the sector is the smallest unit that can be read or written - typically 512 bytes, with its own address marks and error-check field. A block is one or more sectors treated as a unit by the file system.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Pause

PAUSE in a batch file stops and displays “Press any key to continue”, so the user can read what has scrolled past or change a disk before the file goes on. It is the only one of these that is a DOS command.

Answer: A

Correct answer: program structure

Thrashing sets in when processes fault continually because their working sets do not fit, and how tightly a program’s references cluster - its locality, which follows from its structure - decides how large that working set is. A program that scans a large array against the page order can thrash where a well-structured one of the same size will not.

Answer: B

Correct answer: multi threading

Multithreading lets one program contain several independent threads of control, which may be scheduled onto different processors and so be genuinely active at the same time, while sharing the program’s address space. Multiprogramming is about several separate programs rather than several threads within one.