Test your Operating System skills with MCQs with answers and explanations. Covers CPU scheduling, synchronization, deadlocks, memory management, virtual memory, file systems, and OS internals.
This operating system quiz focuses on medium to advanced level concepts with carefully curated objective questions, correct answers, and clear explanations. Ideal for interviews and in-depth OS learning.
Practice Operating System MCQs with Detailed Explanations
Answer at least
12
questions to submit.
16
Which synchronization problem demonstrates resource allocation deadlock?
Medium
Correct answer:Dining Philosophers
Dining Philosophers illustrates deadlock and starvation scenarios.
17
Which mechanism ensures mutual exclusion in critical sections?
Medium
Correct answer:Semaphore
Semaphores control access to shared resources.
18
What is the main advantage of multithreading over multiprocessing?
Medium
Correct answer:Lower context switching overhead
Threads share memory and require less overhead to switch.
19
Which system call is used by a parent process to wait for a child process to terminate?
Medium
Correct answer:wait()
wait() suspends the parent until the child process finishes.
20
A zombie process is created when:
Medium
Correct answer:Child terminates before parent calls wait()
The child terminates but its exit status is not collected by the parent.
21
Which scheduling algorithm is commonly used in real-time operating systems?
High
Correct answer:Rate Monotonic
Rate Monotonic scheduling assigns priorities based on task frequency.
22
Which memory allocation strategy suffers the most from external fragmentation?
High
Correct answer:Worst Fit
Worst Fit leaves large unused gaps, increasing fragmentation.
23
Which OS concept allows multiple programs to reside in memory at the same time?
Medium
Correct answer:Multiprogramming
Multiprogramming improves CPU utilization by keeping multiple jobs in memory.
24
Which file system feature improves reliability by maintaining a log of changes?
Medium
Correct answer:Journaling
Journaling records changes before committing them to disk.
25
Which OS component handles interrupts?
Medium
Correct answer:Kernel
Interrupt handling is a core responsibility of the kernel.
26
Which condition differentiates a livelock from a deadlock?
High
Correct answer:Processes keep changing state
In livelock, processes actively change state but make no progress.
27
Which addressing mode is used in virtual memory systems?
Medium
Correct answer:Logical addressing
Processes use logical addresses that are translated to physical addresses.
28
Which condition leads to priority inversion?
High
Correct answer:Low-priority process holding a resource needed by high-priority process
Priority inversion occurs when a lower-priority process blocks a higher-priority one.
29
Which technique is used to handle priority inversion?
High
Correct answer:Priority inheritance
Priority inheritance temporarily boosts the priority of the resource-holding process.
30
Which concept ensures that a process eventually enters its critical section?
Medium
Correct answer:Bounded waiting
Bounded waiting guarantees a limit on how long a process waits.
