System Admin Interview Questions - Operating
Systems
Basic OS Questions (1-20)
1. What is an operating system?
A. A programming language
B. An interface between user and hardware
C. A device driver
D. A computer application
2. What does the exec() system call do?
A. Terminates a process
B. Creates a new file
C. Replaces a process memory space with a new program
D. Suspends the parent process
3. What is the purpose of the wait() system call?
A. To make the CPU idle
B. To pause the parent process until the child process terminates
C. To execute multiple processes
D. To free allocated memory
4. Which of the following is NOT a service provided by an operating system?
A. Process management
B. Memory management
C. Virus scanning
D. Storage management
5. What is the kernel?
A. A type of software license
B. The first program executed by the CPU
C. The core part of the OS that runs at all times
D. A user interface tool
6. What is the primary goal of an operating system?
A. Security
B. Convenience
C. Speed
D. Networking
7. Which of the following is an open-source operating system?
A. Windows
B. macOS
C. GNU/Linux
D. Solaris (Oracle)
8. Which of the following are open-source operating systems?
A. GNU Linux and BSD UNIX
B. Windows and iOS
C. macOS and Solaris
D. Android only
9. What are system calls?
A. Hardware interrupts
B. Requests by programs to access OS services
C. Programming functions in C
D. Error logs in the OS
10. How is an operating system loaded into memory?
A. By system administrator manually
B. BIOS runs a bootstrap program that loads the kernel
C. Through network booting only
D. From the command line
11. What is a distributed operating system?
A. OS that runs only on multiprocessor systems
B. OS where users share resources over a network
C. OS installed on a single computer only
D. OS designed only for mainframes
12. Which is NOT an advantage of multiprocessor operating systems?
A. Increased throughput
B. Increased reliability
C. Reduced hardware cost
D. Economical usage
13. What is an operating system trap?
A. An OS bug
B. Shift from user mode to kernel mode due to interrupt/error
C. A type of firewall
D. A debugging tool
14. What is memory management in an OS?
A. Keeping track of files and directories
B. Allocating frames and swapping processes in/out of memory
C. Managing CPU registers
D. Handling network packets
15. How does an OS manage storage?
A. By encrypting all files automatically
B. By organizing files in a file system and managing free space
C. By compressing data
D. By performing virus scans
16. How does an OS ensure correct system operation?
A. Using dual-mode operation, privileged instructions, and timer interrupts
B. Installing antivirus
C. Running in safe mode
D. Manual system checks
17. How does an OS manage processes?
A. Through antivirus tools
B. By creating, deleting, scheduling, and synchronizing processes
C. By allocating storage only
D. By compressing files
18. What is a major use of real-time operating systems (RTOS)?
A. Gaming PCs
B. Embedded systems like cars, robots, and devices
C. Office computers
D. Web browsing
19. How does an OS provide convenience to users?
A. By providing user interfaces, file management, I/O operations, and error detection
B. By building hardware
C. By compiling code automatically
D. By storing backups
20. How does an OS ensure efficiency?
A. By allowing multiple users to log in at once
B. By resource allocation, accounting, protection, and security
C. By encrypting all data
D. By using only graphical interfaces
Intermediate OS Questions (21-50)
21. What is a process?
A. A program stored on disk
B. A program under execution in main memory
C. A system call
D. A device driver
22. What is a thread?
A. A heavy process
B. A lightweight process that shares resources except stack and registers
C. A scheduler
D. A kernel module
23. What are frames and pages?
A. Frames = virtual, Pages = physical
B. Frames = logical, Pages = physical
C. Frames = physical, Pages = logical
D. Both represent memory addresses only
24. How can a deadlock be avoided?
A. By compaction
B. By banker’s algorithm
C. By using semaphores
D. By aging
25. What is the purpose of multilevel paging?
A. To increase fragmentation
B. To reduce effective memory access time
C. To avoid deadlocks
D. To provide multitasking
26. What is a dispatcher responsible for?
A. Compiling processes
B. Selecting processes for main memory
C. Loading selected process to CPU and context switching
D. Detecting deadlock
27. What is internal fragmentation?
A. Free space scattered across memory
B. Unused space inside fixed partitions
C. Memory leakage
D. Duplicate memory allocation
28. What is external fragmentation?
A. Free space exists but is not contiguous
B. Process does not fit partition size
C. Overlapping of processes in memory
D. Data corruption in storage
29. What is race condition?
A. When two processes run at the same speed
B. Output depends on order/speed of execution of processes
C. Multiple CPUs competing for tasks
D. Conflict between threads and kernel
30. What is a critical section?
A. Memory area used only by kernel
B. Section of a process accessing shared resources
C. A protected OS function
D. Segment of code for scheduling
31. Why is synchronization needed?
A. To reduce memory usage
B. To prevent data loss, deadlocks, and unexpected output
C. To improve CPU speed
D. To provide multitasking
32. What is a context switch?
A. Switching from user mode to kernel mode
B. Saving state of one process and loading another onto CPU
C. Restarting a process
D. Executing multiple processes at once
33. What is address binding?
A. Mapping logical addresses to virtual addresses
B. Associating program instructions/data with physical addresses
C. Converting assembly code to machine code
D. Allocating memory to processes
34. When is a process termed orphan?
A. When it runs without resources
B. When the parent terminates before calling wait()
C. When it fails during execution
D. When memory allocation fails
35. What is the goal of virtual memory?
A. To eliminate fragmentation
B. To allow programs larger than main memory to run
C. To reduce CPU scheduling time
D. To store files securely
36. What does a cycle in a resource allocation graph with single-instance resources indicate?
A. No scheduling
B. Deadlock
C. Safe state
D. Multiprocessing
37. What are semaphores?
A. Binary codes for memory
B. Integer variables used for process synchronization
C. Registers in CPU
D. Paging tables
38. What does a long-term scheduler do?
A. Schedules jobs from new state to ready state
B. Allocates CPU to processes
C. Suspends processes
D. Handles interrupts
39. What is the job of a short-term scheduler?
A. Schedules processes for I/O devices
B. Selects one process from ready state to run on CPU
C. Moves processes to secondary memory
D. Loads OS at boot time
40. What is medium-term scheduler responsible for?
A. Handling user input
B. Swapping processes in/out of main and secondary memory
C. Selecting jobs from new state
D. Managing file systems
41. What solves external fragmentation?
A. Paging
B. Banker’s algorithm
C. Compaction
D. Context switching
42. How is security ensured with dual mode of operation?
A. User mode for all instructions
B. Kernel mode executes privileged instructions, user mode executes non-privileged instructions
C. Both modes execute all instructions
D. Security software checks
43. What is convoy effect?
A. When multiple CPUs compete
B. When longer processes delay shorter ones in FCFS scheduling
C. When processes deadlock
D. When multiple processes access critical section
44. What is Belady’s anomaly?
A. More frames cause fewer page faults
B. More frames cause more page faults
C. Occurs only in LRU algorithm
D. Eliminates deadlock
45. When is a request immediately granted in banker’s algorithm?
A. When deadlock occurs
B. When system is in safe state
C. When CPU is idle
D. When all processes terminate
46. What prevents starvation in priority scheduling?
A. Semaphores
B. Aging
C. Banker’s algorithm
D. Compaction
47. What is a multicore processor?
A. A processor with multiple chips
B. A processor with multiple cores on same chip
C. Multiple CPUs in one system
D. A GPU with many threads
48. What is preemptive multiprogramming?
A. Process cannot be interrupted
B. Process can be interrupted for higher priority or time quantum expiry
C. All processes run until they terminate
D. Only kernel processes can preempt
49. What is non-preemptive multiprogramming?
A. Process keeps CPU until it terminates or blocks for I/O
B. Process can be interrupted at any time
C. Only kernel decides scheduling
D. No context switching
50. What is PTBR?
A. Page Table Buffer Register
B. Page Table Base Register storing address of page table in PCB
C. Program Table Backup Register
D. Process Translation Base Register
Answer Key
1. B
2. C
3. B
4. C
5. C
6. B
7. C
8. A
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. C
13. B
14. B
15. B
16. A
17. B
18. B
19. A
20. B
21. B
22. B
23. C
24. B
25. B
26. C
27. B
28. A
29. B
30. B
31. B
32. B
33. B
34. B
35. B
36. B
37. B
38. A
39. B
40. B
41. C
42. B
43. B
44. B
45. B
46. B
47. B
48. B
49. A
50. B