Q.1 What is an Operating System ?

Write its
function?
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2004, 2007 Mar. 2009) Important
Ans : An Operating System is a program, which acts as an interface between the user of
computer and the computer hardware.

The operating system can be viewed as a set of software programs, normally supplied along
with hardware for the effective and easy use of the machine.

The main functions of an operating system are :

i) The primary aim of the operating system is to make the hardware convenient to use.
ii) To help users to execute programs.

iii) To control execution of program to prevent errors and improper use of computer system.
iv) To make provision for security of information to users .

v) To eliminate duplicate errors by number of programmers in development of complicated

routines.

vi) It provides facility to share the same hardware among the users.

vii) Proper scheduling of resources among users.

Q. 2 Which are the three main areas in which the

operating system divides its services? Give
examples.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013 Oct. 2004, 2007, 2014 2015) Important
Ans. : The O.S. divides its services in the following three main areas :

i) Information Management (IM)

ii) Process Management (PM)

iii) Memory Management (MM)

i) IM: Information Management provides facilities to store, retrieve, modify the information,
on various devices. The services provided under IM are :

(a) create files or directories.

(b) open files or explore directories.
(c) delete, copy or close files.
(d) change working directory.

ii) PM : The services provided under process management are directed to keep track of all
running programs, called processes. In multiuser operating systems, number of users located
at different terminals may execute different programs at a time. In such case operating
system keeps track of all processes. It schedules them and dispatches them one after another.

iii) MM : The services in Memory Management keep track the of all memory locations. They
determine memory allocation policy and use various techniques and algorithms to achieve
this.

Q. 3 What is Information Management ? List the

system calls in it.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2012) Important
Ans. : 1) Information Management provides the facility to store, retrieve, modify or remove the
information on files/directories.

2) These system services manage the organization of information into files and directories by
allocating memory space to them.

3) It also ensures that correct programs have access to information, have occupied memory
space and driving various devices.

4) Some of the system services (system calls) provided under IM are :

i) Create a file.
ii) Create a directory.
iii) Open a file for read/write purposes.
iv) Explore a directory.
v) Close a file.
vi) Read data from file to buffer.
vii) Write data from buffer to file.
viii) Move file pointer.
ix) Create a link.
x) Change working directory.

Q.4 What is Process Management ? List the system

calls in Process Management.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2005) Important
Ans. : 1) In multiuser operating system, a number of users, located at different terminals of
network, may execute same or different programs at a time.

2) But such a computer system has only one C.P.U. and it can execute only one instruction,
belonging to any one of these programs at the same time.

3) The Process Management of such O. S. keeps track of all running programs called
processes, Schedule then and dispatch them one after the another. While doing so, it
gives an impression to each user that it has the full control of C.P.U.

4) The Process Management modules of single user O.S. are less complicated than multi-user
O.S.

5) The services provided under Process Management are (system calls) :

i) Read a process.
ii) Block a process.
li) Resume a process.
iv) Terminate a process.
v) Suspend a process.
vi) Delay a process.
vii) Change the priority of a process
viii) Generate a process.

Q.5 What is Memory Management ? What are the

services provided under it ?
Ans: 1) When a job is to be executed, the O.S. loads the job in main memory from disk.

2) But before loading it in memory, it should know that how much of free memory is available
and how much of memory should be allocated to the job.

3) For this, the operating system keeps list of all free memory location. Before a program is
loaded in memory the operating system consults with this list. It loads the program into
memory and modifies the list.

4) When the program is executed complete, it removes programs from main memory and
again modify the list.

5) For this, the O.S. determines memory allocation/deallocation policies and uses various
techniques and algorithms to athieve this.

6) The system calls in it are :

i) To allocate a chunk of memory to a process.
ii) To free chunk of memory from a process.

Q. 6 What is meant by a system call ? How it is

used ? How does an application program (AP)
use these calls during execution ?
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2003, Mar. 2006) Important
Ans. : 1) System call : System call provides the interface between a process and the operating
system. These calls are generally available as assembly language instructions.

2) System calls are used in different ways as :

(a) Some system may allow system calls to be made directly from a higher level language
program. In this, calls are predefined function or subroutine.
(b) Some languages — C, PERL – allow system calls to be made directly.
(c) FORTRAN system provides set of library routines.

3) An application program uses sequence of system calls during execution. To prompt a

message on the terminal AP uses system call. Next, read from the terminal AP uses another
system call. Similarly for each and every task, program uses various system calls.

Q.7 What are the features of Windows 98?

Asked in Board Exam ( Oct.2004, 2013 Mar.2015) Important
Ans: The main features of Windows 98 are as listed below :

i) Easier to use :
1) Windows 98 is a single user multitasking operating system.
2) Navigating around the computer is easier in Windows 98,
3) A file can be opened by a single click.
4) Windows 98 allows us to use multiple monitors with single computer.
5) New hardware can be easily installed and used without restarting computer.
6) With Windows 98 we can use digital cameras and other digital imaging devices.

ii) Faster :
1) Windows and programs open faster than in Windows 95.
2) The computer speed and efficiency can be easily improved by simple maintenance.

iii) True web integration :

1) Windows 98 can be easily connected to internet.
2) Web pages can be viewed in any window.
3) Using Microsoft Outlook Express, E-mails and message can be send to internet
newsgroups.
4) The internet conferences can also be arranged.

iv) More entertaining :

1) Windows 98 supports DVD and digital audio. User can play high quality digital movies
and audio on the computer.
2) The television broadcast can also be seen.

Q.8 What are the features of Windows NT? OR

Asked in Board Exam (Mar.2011, 2016) Important

Explain any four features of Windows NT

operating system.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct.2002, 2006, 2012, 2013) Important
Ans: The features of Windows NT are as listed below :

i) Windows NT is multitasking, multiuser and multithreading operating system.

ii) A user will get faster response eventhough multiple applications are running.

ii) Windows NT supports virtual memory management system to allow multiprogramming.

iv) Symmetric multiprocessing in windows NT allows it to schedule various tasks on any

C.PU. in a multiprocessor system.

v) Windows NT is a 32-bit Operating system,

vi) Windows NT uses New Technology File Systems (NTFS), which implements fault tolerance,
security and has support for very large files

TPs Computer Science – 1

Q.9 What are the features of Linux ?

Asked in Board Exam (March 2004,2074) (Oct 2013, 2014) Important
Ans : Some of the features of Linux are as given below :

i) Linux is a multiuser, operating system with a full set of unix compatible tools.

ii) Linux runs on a wide variety of platforms. It was developed exclusively on PC architecture

iii) It provides as much as functionality from limited resources. It can run on machine having
4MB of RAM.
iv) Linux presents standard interfaces to both the programmer and user

v) Linux supports a wide base of applications.

vi) Linux is free software. Free in the sense that people can copy it, modify it, use it in any
manner they want.

vii) The file system in LINUX obeys UNIX semantics.

Q.10 What are the components of Linux system ?

Asked in Board Exam (March 2004) Important
Ans : The Linux is composed of three main bodies :

1. Kernel : Kernel maintains all important abstractions of the operating system, such
as processes and virtual memory.
2. System libraries : System libraries define a standard set of functions through
which applications can interact with the kernel, and which implements much of
the O.S functionality.
3. System utilities : These are programs that perform individual, specialised
management tasks. Some system utilities may be invoked just once to initialize
and configure some aspects of system.
Following figure shows various components of Linux system:

CONCEPTS RELATED TO INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Q. 11 What is a file system ?

Asked in Board Exam (March 2015) Important
Ans: 1) The collection of related information i.e. data or programs is called as file.

2) Each file has a specific name, which is used to refer that file.

3) For convenient use of the computer system, the O.S. provides a uniform logical view of
information storage.
4) The operating system manages mass storage devices to implement the abstract concept of
file.

5) The O.S maps files on to physical devices such as tapes or disks.

6) Using various data structures file system in IM allows user to define files and directories
and allowcate/ deallocate the disk space to each file.

7) There are two types of file systems :-

i) Tape – based systems
ii) Disk – based systems.

i) Tape-based systems:
(a) Tape-based systems are simple but inefficient.
(b) In these svstems, files are stored on to reels of physical tapes. Generally one or more files
are stored on to one tape.
(c) Tapes are used for transport of data from one computer to another.

ii) Disk – based systems :

(a) Each disk is divided into tracks and each track is further divided into number of sectors.
(b) Number of tracks and size of sectors is variable. It varies from one drive to another,
(c) A disk has a device directory, indicating, which files are on the disk. The directory lists the
file name, starting address, file length, type of file, time of creation, and time of last update
etc.

Q. 12 What are the advantages of disk-based

systems over tape-based systems ?
Ans : Advantages of disk-based systems over tape – based systems are :

i) Finding a file on tape-based systems is difficult and time consuming, while a file can easily be
found on a disk-based system.

ii) In tape-based systems, if a file is to be modified, it requires to copy entire tape whereas in a
disk based systems a file can be modified easily, without copying the entire disk.

ii) Store large information in disk-based systems as compared to tape-based systems.

iv) Disk-based systems are easier and convenient to use instead of tape-based systems.

v) Each disk consists of number of blocks, which can be rewritten easily, while we require
entire tape to copy, if we have to rewrite something.
13 Explain the file system related to Information
Management with file operations only.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2004, 2007 Oct.2015) Important
Ans : 1) The file system related to IM allows the user to define files and directories and
allocate/deallocate the disk space to each file.

2) A file is a collection of related information. It can be program or data.

3) File operations : The file concept is implemented by the operating system. System calls
are provided to create, read, write, rewind and delete files.

(a) Create a file : For Creating a file, first whether sufficient space is available for that file is
checked. If it is available, entry for new file must be made in directory.

(b) Write to a file : For whiting to a file, there is command in which name of the file is given.
Then Operating system search for that file in directory entry and write to it

(c) Reading a file : For reading a file, there is a system call in which file is specified. Then
operating system searches for that file in directory entry and read it.

(d) Rewind a file : The directory is searched for appropriate entry and file is reset to the
beginning of file.

(e) Delete a file: To delete a file, directory entry is searched and if file is found, it releases the
memory space and that directory entry now become invalid.

Q.14 Explain the following terms in case of

magnetic disk :
Asked in Board Exam (Mar. 2006, 2009 Oct. 2003, 2006) Important
(i) Tracks and Sectors
(ii) Seek time
(iii) Transmission time
(ii) Latency time/ Rotational delay

Ans : i) Tracks and Sectors : Magnetic disk surface is made up of concentric circles called
tracks. The number of tracks varies depending on the disk type. A track is further divided into
smaller areas called sectors.
A sector is a smallest unit of information which can be read from or written to the disk.
Sector varies from 32 bytes to 4096 bytes and track contains 4 to 32 sectors per track and
from 75 to 500 tracks per disk surface.

ii) Seek time: The time required for read/write heads to move to the correct track is called as
seek time.

iii) Transmission time : The time required for activate Read/Write head for appropriate
surface and read data is called as transmission time.

iv) Latency time/Rotational delay : The time required for requested sector on track to rotate
below the head is called as latency time or rotational delay.

Q. 15 Explain internal and external fragmentation.

Ans : Internal fragmentation :
Wastage of memory space within partition is called as internal fragmentation. A file consists of
number of blocks. Consider the block size of a O.S is 1024 bytes and a file is of 3499 bytes.
Then, when it is loaded in memory for execution it would have allocated 4 blocks. Thus last
597 bytes would be wasted. This is called as internal fragmentation.
Larger block size causes more internal fragmentation.

External fragmentation :
Variable partition suffers from external fragmentation,
Suppose a job of 512 bytes is terminated and new job is of 256 bytes is loaded in the partition
then 256 bytes of memory is wasted. T his is called as external fragmentation.

Q. 16 What are device drivers?

Ans : 1) Device drivers are software programs required for each device
2) Each device will require different drivers as per functionality.
3) A device driver knows how the buffers flags, register contro! and status bits should be used
for a particular device
4) Some device drivers are useful for data conversion
5) For simply reading a character from a device involves complex sequence of device
specification operations
6) Rather than writing the code every time, the device driver was simply used from library.
Q.17 What is VDU ? Explain the following terms :
(a) Dumb terminal
(b) Intelligent terminal

Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, Oct. 2007) Important

Ans : 1) A visual display unit (VDU) or terminal is nothing but a common I/O medium.

2) There are generally two parts of terminal I/O hardware :

i) Input unit e.g. keyboard

ii) Output unit e.g. screen
3) There are two types of terminals :
i) Dumb terminal
ii) Intelligent terminal.

i) Dumb terminal :
(a) A dumb terminal consists of a microprocessor on which small programs can run and
limited amount of memory.
(b) It is responsible for basic I/O operations.
(¢) A dumb terminal does no processing on input characters.

ii) Intelligent terminal :

(a) An intelligent terminal has powerful hardware and software than a dumb terminal.
(b) It also has more amount of memory.
(c) It can carry out some process on input characters also it can process programs
idependently.

Q. 18) Explain the use of video RAM. Explain data

bytes and attribute bytes.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2003,2008) Important
Ans: i) The video RAM is basically the memory that the terminal hardware itself has.

i) Anytime all characters stored in the video RAM are displayed on the screen by the video
controller using display electronics.

iii) All particular informations (attributes) are stored in video RAM.

iv) Video RAM consists of 2000 databytes (0 to 1999) preceded by 2000 corresponding
attribute bytes (0 to 1999) as shown in figure.

v) A typical alphanumeric screen can display 25 lines each consisting of 80 characters i.e. 25 X
80 = 2000 characters.

vi) Data Byte : All 2000 characters are stored in video RAM. To display any specific character
on the screen at a specific position all ASCII or EBCDIC code for that character is to move in
video RAM.

vii) Attribute Byte : There is one attribute byte for each data byte. This byte tells the video
controller how the character is to be displayed. It signifies whether the corresponding data
character which is stored next to it in the video RAM is to be displayed bold, underlined,
blinking or in reverse video et

Q.19 Why keyboard is referred as memory map

terminal? Explain the multiple memory location
involved in the input-output operations between
the keyboard and screen.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2005, 2010, Oct.2010) Important
Ans: (a) Terminals have a video RAM generally with 2000 data bytes preceded by 2000
corresponding attribute bytes.

(b) Anytime, all the 2000 characters (25 lines X 80 columns on screen) stored in video RAM are
displayed on the screen by the video controller.
(c) The video RAM is treated as part of the main memory only.

(d) Therefore, for moving any data in or out of the video RAM, ordinary load or store
instructions are sufficient.

(e) So, keyboard is referred as memory terminal.

The following multiple memory locations are involved in the input-output operations between
the keyboard and screen:

(a) Small memory within the keyboard itself : When a character is keyed in, the 8-bit ASCII
EBCDIC code is generated which is stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal itself.

(b) The video-RAM (data and attribute byte) : The ASCII or EBCDIC code for the character is
to move the video RAM at the corresponding position with appropriate co-ordinates.

(c) The operating system buffers : The operating system has one buffer for each terminal
and two separate buffers for input and output operations.

(d) The I/O area of the application program : When the user finishes keying in the data, the
data stored in operating system buffer for that terminal is flushed out to the I/O area of the
application program which wants that data.

Q. 20 What is a process ?
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2002, Oct. 2004) Important
Ans : Process :
i) A process is defined as a program under execution, which competes for CPU time and other
memory resources.

ii) In simple terms, a program does not compete for computing resources such as CPU. time
or memory, whereas a process does. A program may be present on paper reside on disk.
It may be compiled or tested but it still does not compete for computing resources.

iii) Once a user wants to execute a program, it is located on the disk and loaded in the main
memory, at that time, it becomes a process, because it then compete for C.P.U. time and
other resources.

Q. 21 Define the terms :

1) Context switching

2) Degree of multiprogramming.
Ans : 1) Context switching :
In multiprogramming system, multiple processes are run at the same time such that when
process 1 wait for an I/O, process 2 executes and vice versa. The lost in time, in turning the
attention of CPU from one process to another is called as context switching.

2) Degree of multiprogramming :
The number of processes running simultaneously and hence competing for CPU is known as
degree of multiprogramming.

Q. 22 Explain context switching at a process level

in multiprogramming system with example.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, 2009,2011, 2016 Oct.2010,2015) Important
Ans : i) Multiprogramming is the concept of increasing utilisation of C.P.U. by always having
something for C.P.U. to execute.

ii) In multiprogramming, C.P.U. can execute two or more processes simultaneously. When
process 1 waits for an external event such as an I/O operation, C.P.U. executes process 2 and
vice versa.

iii) When C.PU. switches from one process to another the time required for switching is called
as context switching.

Context switching

iv) Let A and B be the two processes ready for execution and requires C.P.U. time for
execution.
Let CPU time be given to process A, which is having some instructions depending on
process B or on some external event such as an I/O operation. Then, it is the job of operating
system to halt the execution of process A and give C.P.U. time for process B.

The lose in time in turning the attention of C.P.U. from process A to process B is known as
context switching.

v) During context switching the status of C.P.U. registers and flags of the old process are
stored in memory.

For-e-g :-

// A. CPP
# include <iostream.h>
# include “B.h”
void main ()
{
int a = 10, b = 20;
cout << add (a,b);
}
// B.h
# include <iostream.h>
int add (int x, int y)
{
return (x+y);
}
C++
Here A and B are the two processes, where process A is depending on B. When process A is
being executed, CPU executes instructions one by one. When it comes to the instruction one
by one. When it comes to the instructions cout <<add (a,b); it stops execution because the
output of this instruction depends on Output of process B.

Thus there is need of execution of process B. So C.P.U. stores the contents of registers and
flags of process A in RSA (Register Save Area). It then loads process B in memory. The time
required for this is known as context switch. The CPU then executes process B and output is
given to process A and execution of process A restarts from the instruction from which it was
halted.

Q. 23 Explain Running, Ready and Blocked process

states in process management. OR
Discuss various process states with examples.
Asked in Board Exam ((Oct. 2002,04,05,12 Mar. 2012, 13, 14) Important
Ans : In order to manage switching between processes, the operating system defines three
basic process states, which are as given below.
i) Running state :
There is only one process, which is executed by C.P.U. at any given moment. This process is
called as running process.
In multiprocessor systems, with multiple C.P.Us, there are many running processes at a
given moment. The operating system keeps track of all of them.

ii) Ready state :

The process, which is not waiting for an external event such as an I/O operation, but which is
not running is said to be in ready state.
Actually, a process in ready state could have been running. But the fact that, there is only one
C.PU., which is executing some other process, while this process is waiting for C. PUs attention
towards it.

iii) Blocked state :

When a process is waiting for an external event such as an I/O operation, the process is said to
be in blocked state.

The major difference between blocked and ready process is that a blocked process can not
be directly scheduled even if CPU is free, whereas a ready process can be scheduled if the
C.PU. is free.

Q. 24 What is process scheduling ? Explain

scheduling objectives.
Ans. : 1) In a Multiuser Operating System, a number of programs are running simultancously
and these are called as processes.

2) In this case the O.S. has to keep track of all these processes and will have to dispatch them
one after another. This is known as process scheduling.

3) While scheduling various processes, there are many objectives for the operating system.
Some of these objectives conflict with each other. Therefore, the O.S. designers have to
choose a set of objectives to be achieved. Some of these objectives are as listed below :
i) Fairness
ii) Good throughput
iii) Good CPU utilization
iv) Low turnaround time
v) Low waiting time
vi) Good response time.

i) Fairness refers to being fair to every user in terms of C.P.U. time

ii) Throughput refers to the total productive work done by all the users put together.

iii) CPU utilization is the fraction of the time that the CPU is busy.

iv) Turnaround time is the elapsed time between the time a program or job is submitted and
the time when it is completed.

v) Waiting time is the time a job spends waiting in the queue of the newly admitted processes
for the operating system to allocate resources to it before commerncing its execution.

vi) Response time is the time slice for responding to a question or an event. It depends on
degree of multiprogramming, the efficiency of the hardware along with the O.S. and th policy
of O.S. to allocate the resources.

Q. 25 Explain the following terms in case of

process scheduling
Asked in Board Exam (March 2005, October 2008) Important
(a) Turnaround time
(b) Waiting time
(c) Terminal response time
(d) Event response time

Ans : (1) Turnaround time : Turnaround time is the elapsed time between the time a
program or a job is submitted and the time when it is completed.

(2) Waiting time : Waiting time is the time a job spends waiting in the queue of the newly
admitted processes for the operating system to allocate resources to it before commencing its
execution.

(3) Terminal response time : In the Time-sharing system, Terminal response time is the time
to respond with an answer or result to a question and it depends on degree of
multiprogramming, the efficiency of hardware with OS and policy of OS to allocate resources.

(4) Event response time : In the real-time system, event response time is the to respond
with an event.

Q. 26 What are preemptive and non-preemptive

philosophies of scheduling.
Ans : There are basically two scheduling philosophies, depending upon the need. The
operating system designers has to select one of them.
Preemptive philosophy :

i) This philosophy allows a higher priority process to replace a currently running process even
if its time slice is not over or it has not requested for any external operation.

ii) This requires context switching more frequently.

iii) It is suited for on-line, real time processing, where interactive users and high priority
processes require immediate attention.

iv) The preemptive philosophy increases fairness of the system but decreases throughput.

Non-preemptive philosophy :

i) In a non-preemptive philosophy, a running process retains the control of the CPU

and all the allocated resources, until it surrenders control to the operating system (on
its own wish).

ii) This means that even a high priority process enters the system, the running process can not
be forced to give up control.

iii) However if the running process is blocked due to some external request another process
can be scheduled.

iv) It is not suited for real time systems, where high priority events requires an immediate
attention.

v) Non-preemptive philosophy increases throughput of the system but decreases fairness.

Q. 27 What is priority ? Explain internal and

external priorities.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2007) Important
Ans : 1) The concept of arranging ready processes in a queue so that they can be dispatched
one atter another for execution depending on some policy is known as priority.

2) Due to many processes competing for the same available resources like C.P.U. and
memory, concept of priority is used.

3) A priority may be external (or global) or internal (or local).

(a) External or global priority :

(1) An external priority is specified by the user externally generally at the time of initiating the
process.

(2) In many cases, the operating system allows user to change its priority externally even
during its execution.

(3) If the user does not specify any external priority at all, the operating system assumes a
certain priority, called the default priority. But when an urgent job needs to be done, the
system manager permits the process to be created with a higher priority.

(b) Internal priority or local priority :

(1) The concept of internal priority is used by scheduling algorithms. They base their
calculations on the current state of the process eg, each user, while firing a process, can be
forced to
specify the expected time that the process is likely to take for completion.

(2) The operating system can then set internal priority, which is highest for the shortest job
(SJF i.e. shortest job first algorithm), so that at only a little extra cost to large job, many short
jobs will complete.

(3) This has two advantages : (a) If short jobs are finished faster, the number of processes
competing for CPU. will be decreased. (b) The number of satisfied users will increase.

(4) However if a stream of short jobs keeps coming on, an important large job may suffer from
indefinite postponement. To avoid this, set higher external priority to important large jobs

Q. 28 With reference to process management

explain the terms:
(i) External priority
(ii) Purchased priority
(iii) Internal priority
(iv) Time slice

Asked in Board Exam (Mar, 2003, 06, 08, 11,16) Important

Ans: (i) External Priority : Please refer Q. No. 27.

(ii) Purchase priority :

(a) This priority is used in some data centre situations where each user pays for the time used.

(b) Higher priority processes are charged at a higher rate to prevent each user from firing his
job at the highest priority. This is known as scheme of purchased priority.
(c) Operating system keeps track of the time used by each process and the priority at which it
was used.

(iii) Internal priority : Please refer Q. No. 27.

(iv) Time slice :

(a) Each process is normally given certain time to run irrespective of its importance. This is
known as Time slice.

(b) Time slice given to each process so that a process does not use the CPU indefinitely.

Q. 29 What is multitasking? Explain in brief.

Ans : (1) A task can be defined as an asynchronous code path within a process.

(2) Hence in operating systems which supports multitasking, a process can be considered to
be made up of number of tasks, which can run simultaneously in the same way that a
multiuser operating system supports multiple process at the same time.

(3) Just like processes, a task can also have priorities and states.

(4) A task can be in ready, running or blocked states and accordingly task control blocks (TCB)
are linked together.

(5) When the operating system schedules a process with multiple tasks and allocates time
slice to it, the following happens :

(i) The operating system select the highest priority ready task within that process and
schedules it.

(ii) Atany time if the process time slice is over, the operating system turns the process as well
as currently runing task into ready state from running state.

(iii) If the process time slice is not over but the current task is either over or blocked, the
operating system chooses next highest priority ready task within that process and
schedules it. ’

(iv) If there is no other ready task within that process only then the O.S. turns that process to
blocked state.
On the current state of the process e.g. each user, while firing a process, can be forced to,
specify the expected time that the process is likely to take for completion.
Q. 30 Explain the term multitasking with a suitable
example.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2003, 2013) Important
Ans :
1) Multitasking : A task can be defined as an asynchronous code path within a process. In
multitasking, a process can consist of tasks, which run simultaneously.
2) Multiple tasks should be able to run concurrently within a process.
3) Multitasking allows programmer flexibility and improves CPU utilization.
4) It reduces the overheads of switching at a process level.
5) For example :
Consider a process consisting of two tasks :

Task 0: Read a Record

Process a Record
Task 0 end
Task 1: Write a Record
Task 1 end

(a) Two task are defined within the same process. They run concurrently within the same
process if synchronized properly.

(b) If task 0 is blocked, instead of blocking entire process, the operating system will find out
whether tasks 1 can be scheduled.

(c) When both tasks are blocked, only then entire process is blocked. Again if one task is
ready, the process can be moved to ready list and then scheduled.

Q. 31 What are the advantages of multitasking

operating systems ?
(i) Multitasking O.S. allows programmer flexibility and also improves C.P.U. utilization.

(ii) When various tasks are defined in a process, then process would be blocked only if all the
tasks in that process are blocked.

(iii) Again even if any task becomes ready, the process can be moved to ready list from
blocked list.

(iv) By adding task levels, context switching at various process levels can be reduced.

(v) Multitasking is less time consuming and it reduces turnaround time.

Q. 32 What functions are performed by memory
management of operating systems ? State any
four memory management systems.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2003,04,07,12,13,14 Oct. 2006,2013) Important
Ans : 1) In general, the memory management modules performs following functions :

a) To keep track of all memory locations free or allocated and i allocated; to which process
and how much.

b) To decide memory allocation policy i.e. which process should get how much memory
locations Normally, this is achieve with the help of some special hardware.

c) Fo use various techniques and algorithms to allocate or deallocate memory locations.

Normally this is achived with the help of some special hardware.

2) The following are the memory management systems :

A) Contiguous, Real Memory Management System :
(a) Single contiguous
(b) Fixed partitioned
(¢) Variable partitioned

B) Non – contiguous, Real Memory Management System :

(a) Paging
(b) Segmentation
(c) Combined

C) Non – contiguous, Virtual Memory Management System :

(a) Virtual memory

Q. 33 Explain memory map of single user operating

system.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2004, March 2007, 2011) Important
Ans :
 Memory map of single user OS

(1) The operating system like MS-DOS is single user O.S

(2) The memory map of such operating systems consists of program to be executed i.e.
process, free memory available, command interpreter and kernel.

(3) The command interpreter of the single user operating system is invoked when the
computer is started.

(4) This O.S loads program to be excuted in the main memory and assign as much memory as
possible to it. It then sets instruction pointer and executes the program.

(5) It the program is terminated, then it is removed from memory

(6) The kernel of such O.S provides basic operating systems services, while the command
interpreter interpretes the commands

Q. 34 What is partitioning ? Explain fixed and

variable partitioning.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2004, 07, 08, 09, 12: Oct. 2005, 14) Important
Ans : Certain operating systems use partitioned memory to allow multiprogramming.
Partitioning means dividing main memory into various sections. These sections are called
partitions.

There are two types of partitions.

I) Fixed partitions
II) Vanable partitions

I) Fixed partitions (Static Partition) :

(1) In fixed partitioning, partitions could be of different sizes. But once decided, their size can
not be changed

2) In this method partitions are fixed at the time of system generation. At this time, system
manager has to declare the partition time.

(3) Fixed partitions are also called as static partitions. On declaring fixed partitions, the
operating system creates Partition Description Table (PDT).

II) Variable partitioning :

(1) In variable partitioning number of partitions and their sizes are variable.

(2) They are not defined at the time of system generation.

(3) These partitions are created by the operating system at run time they differ in size.

(4) The procedure to be followed for memory allocation is nearly same as that in case of fixed
partitions.

(5) At any time, any partition may be free or allocated to some process. Also, in variable
partitioning, starting address of partition is not fixed.

Q. 35 Give the disadvantages of fixed partition.

Ans : (i) Fixed partitioning suffers from internal fragmentation i.e. wastage of memory space
within the partition e.g. suppose the partition size is 200k and a job is of 100k, then 100k of
memory will be wasted.

(ii) Fixed partitioning reduces degree of multiprogramming.

(iii) It also restricts C.P.U. utilisation.

Variable partitioning overcomes these problems and hence it is widely accepted.
Q. 36 State the various steps involved in the
allocation of a partition in case of fixed partition
memory management.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, March 2005, March 2006, March 2007/Oct. 2003,10,12) Important
Ans : When a process is to be allocated a partition, following take place :

i) The long term process scheduler of the PM decides which process to be brought in to the
memory.

ii) It then finds out the size of the program to be loaded by consulting the IM portion of the
0.S. The compiler keeps the size of the program in the header of the executable file.

iii) Then makes a request to the partition allocation routine of the MM to allocate a free
partition, with the appropriate size.

The partition description table (PDT) is useful for this procedure.

(iv) With the help of the IM module it now loads the binary program in the allocated partiition.

(v) It then makes an entry of the partition ID in the PCB (process control block) before the PCB
is linked to the chain of ready processes by using the PM module of the operating system.

(vi) The routine in the MM now redefines partition description table and marks the status of
that partition as allocated. (ALLC)

(vii) The PM eventually schedules this process.

A partition description table (PDT) is shown in Fig. below :
Q. 37 Explain the single contiguous memory
management systems with a suitable memory
mapping diagram
Asked in Board Exam (March 2005, Oct.2010) Important
Ans : Single contiguous memory management system :
(1) In this memory management system, the physical memory is divided into two contiguous
areas. One is permanently allocated to the resident portion of the operating system and the
remaining used for user process.

(2) As shown in figure operating system may be loaded at lower addresses i.e. 0 to P. At any
time, only one user process is in the memory. This process is run to completion and then next
process is brought in the memory.

Q. 38 What is paging ? Explain in detail.

Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2004,15) Important

OR

Explain page memory management system with a

suitable page map Table (PMT)
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2008) Important
Ans :
(a) Partitions suffer from external fragmentation because of available memory is not
contiguous.

(b) Paging permits a program’s memory to be non-contiguous allowing a program to be

allocated
physical memory wherever it is available.
(c) Physical memory is broken into fixed-size blocks called Page Frames. Logical memory is
also broken into blocks of the same size called Pages.

(d) When a program is to be executed its pages are loaded into any available frames and the
page map tables defined to translate from user pages to memory frames.

(e) The page size is defined by hardware. It is typically power of 2.

The paging model of memory is shown as follows :

Every address generated by CPU is divided in two parts :- a page number (p) and a page
offset / displacement (d). The page number is used as an index into a PMT.
Q. 39 What is segmentation?
Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2004) Important
Ans : (1) Segments are logical divisions of programs and hence are normally of variable sizes.

(2) Segmentation 1s a memory management scheme which support user’s view of memory.

(3) Each segment has number and length.

(4) Each program in executable form can be considered to be consisting of ditferent segments
such as code, data and stack. Each of these can be further divided into new segments.

(5) A program normally contains main program, some subprograms and few predefined and
precompiled functions. Each of these belongs to different segments.

(6) An application programmer does not necessarily have to declare different segments in the
program. If various segments in his programs does not explicitly, then the compiler does it by
its own. Following are the jobs of compiler :

i) Recognize different segments in program.

ii) Number those segments.

iii) Define segment table

iv) Produce an executable image by assigning two dimensional addresses.

(7) Consider the examples as shown in figure Four segmeents numbered 0 to 3. The SMT
(Segment Map Table) has separate entry for each segment givingthe size and base of
segment.

Main program 0 sub program 0

Segment 0 Segment 1
999 399

Stack area Data area

0 0
Segment 2 Segment 3
299 199

Segments

segment limit base

0 1000 1400
1 400 3400
2 300 2900
3 200 500
Segment map table

Q.40) EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF VIRTUAL MEMORY IN

BRIEF .

Q. 41 Explain the following terms.

Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2007, 14) Important
Ans: (1) Locality of reference :

i) The basic principle behind virtual memory is called locality of reference.

ii) This gives some basis to forecast whether a page is likely to be referenced in the near
future or not, depending on its behavior in past.

iii) Thus, it helps to decide whether the page should be thrown out from main memory
to make space for new page or not. )

iv) If this principle is not valid, user can not throw any pages out on the disk from
memory without a possible severe degradation in the performance.

(2) Page fault :

Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2006) Important

i) In many systems, when a process is executing with only a few pages in memory and
when an instruction is encountered which refers to any instruction or data in some
other page which is outside the main memory i.e. on the disk,la ‘page fault’ occurs.

ii) At this stage, the operating system must bring the required page into the memory
before the execution of that instruction can restart.

(3) Working set :

Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2006) Important

i) At any time, a process has a number of pages in the physical memory. Not all of these are
actively referred.
ii) The set of pages in the physical memory actively referred to at any moment is called
working set.

iii) This has a significant bearing on the policy of bringing in pages from the disk to the
main memory, if the operating system follows the “Working set model.”

4) Page replacement policy :

Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2006) Important

i) As the number of processes and the number of pages in the main memory increase all
the page frames become occupied.

ii) At this time, if a new page is to be brought in, the operating systern has to overwrite some
existing page in the memory

iii) The page To be overwritten is selec ted by page replacement policy.

iv) There are a number of ways in which the O.S. selects the page to be overwritten. The
0S, designer chooses one amongst many of such policies and writes corresponding algorithm
for it,

(5) Dirty page / Dirty bit

Asked in Board Exam (March.2011, Oct. 2006) Important

i) The page which is modified after it is loaded in main memory from disk is called as
dirty page

ii) The operating system maintains one bit for each physical page frame to denote whether
a page has become dirty or not. This bit is called dirty bit.

6) Demand paging :

i) In demand paging, a page is brought in only when demanded.

ii) Consider a process is created with no pages in main memory. When the process is
dispatched initially, the program counter will have been loaded with the address of first
instruction. This address obviously belongs to a page outside the main memory. So a page
fault will occur and the O.S. will now bring that page in memory.

iii) In this way as page fault goes on occurring, the O.S. brings new referred pages. This
is called demand paging.

iv) The drawback of demand paging is that a lot of pages which have been used in past,
but which now are not required, remain in memory unnecessarily.

GUI – Graphical User Interface

Q. 42 What is GUI ? State any four advantages of

GUI
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2003, 2006, 2007) Important
Ans. : GUI : The interface which replaces cryptic commands by their graphical representation
are called Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Windows operating system is GUI based operating system.

Advantages of GUI :

1) With GUI commands are replaced by graphics. Hence it is not necessary to remember the
command and its meaning,
2) With GUI user can run several programs simultaneously.

3) User can communicate and exchange data between programs without transferring or
copying
files.

4) Easy to use, consistent GUI for virtually all programs.

Q. 43 What is GUI ? Explain in brief any two

features of GUI.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2005,2012 Oct. 2006) Important
Ans. : GUI: The interface which replace cryptic commands by their graphical representation
are called Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Windows operating system is GUI based operating system.

Features of GUI:
1) Replacement of command with icons :

(a) Commands are grouped together in various levels of hierarchy and when the user selects a
group, further commands in that group are displayed.

(b) This allows the user to select a command using a cursor and simply clicking on it.

(c) User can select the command and use the application without first having to know about
the computer and its working.

(d) The display of these command sequences takes place graphically.

2) Provide on-line HELP :

(a) GUI – based applications provide “HELP” about various features of the application.

(b) HELP can assist the user in knowing everything about the application.

(c) In the windowing environment, if user gets confused at any point, a HELP is readily
available. This makes GUI-based applications more popular and efficient.
Q. 44 What is meant by GUI ? What are the
essential components of GUI ? Explain any three.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2004, Oct. 2004, 12, 15) Important
Ans. : GUI : The interface which replace cryptic commands by their graphical representation
are called Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Windows operating system is GUI based operating system.

Essential components of GUI are :

(1) Menu bar
(2) Scroll bar
(3) Controls push button, option button, radio button, check box, list box, Entry box,
Combo box)
(4) Dialogue boxes
(5) Feedback pointer

1) Menu bar:

(i) Menu bar normally appears at the top of the window under the window title.
(ii) Some commonly used menu bar options are File, Edit, View, Help etc.
(iii) When one of these menu is selected, a pulldown menu appears on the screen.

2) Scroll bar:

(i)Scroll bars allow user to scroll window horizontally and vertically.

(i) Scroll bars are generally used to look at information, which is not currently visible in screen,
by scrolling window horizontally or vertically.
(iii) A scroll bar consists of a horizontal or vertical scroll area with a slider box and an arrow in
a box at each end.
(vi) Slider box gives a hint on size and position of the visible part of object.

3) Dialogue boxes :

(i) Dialogue box is a window, used by the application to interact with the user.
(ii) A dialogue box can also be used to display information or to get user input and also
for a combination of these two functions.
(iii) Dialogue boxes are of two types :
(a) Modal dialogue box
(b) Modeless dialogue box.
(iv) A dialogue box where an application can continue only after the user has responded to the
dialogue is called modal dialogue box.
(v) A dialogue box, which allows user to continue without responding to it is called modeless
dialogue box.
Q. 45 Explain in short the function of Menubar and
scroll bar components of G.U.I
Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, 2008, 2011) Important
Ans :

(i) Menubar :

i) A menubar consists of different main menus, which can be used in program.

ii) The main menus consists of different submenus. A menu can be selected by clicking it.
iii) A menubar is normally present at the top of the window under the window title.Some of
the commonly used menu options are File, Edit, Help etc.
iv)When one of these menu is selected by clicking, a pull down menu list appears on the
screen.
v) A pull down menu is a rectangular box, with more specific action listed in the box, out of
which one can be selected by clicking a particular menu item.

(ii) Scroll bars :

Asked in Board Exam (March 2007) Important

i) Scroll bars allow user to scroll window horizontally and vertically.
ii) Scroll bars are generally used to look at information, which is not currently visible in screen,
by scrolling window horizontally or vertically.
iii) A scroll bar consists of a horizontal or vertical scroll area with a slider box and an
arrow in a box at each end.
iv) Slider box gives a hint on size and position of the visible part of object.
Q. 46 Explain various controls of G.U.I.
Ans. A varity of controls are used in a GUL to enable user to select type of information or to
select specific operation to be carried out. That are either buttons or boxes. Some of the
control buttons are :

1) Push button :

It is a rectangular button having a label, indicating action to be carried out. This button is used
to select an action represented by button. This button normally used when one action is to be
selected at of many choices.
For e.g. [SAVE]

2) Option button or radio buttons :

It consists of a graphical image, which is used to select one object out of several possible
objects. The currently selected can be distinguished from the others by highlighting on the
graphic image :
e.g.

 Workarea
 Modeless
 Apllication
3) Check buttons :
A check button consists of a square box and an accompanying text. This is used for selecting
one or more choices from a list of options.
e.g.

☑ Auto manage
☑ Default position
☑ Align

4)The Box controls are list box and entry box :

(i) List box :
A list box is a rectangular box with scroll bars. This allows user to select one item from a
scrollable list of choices.
(ii) Entry box :
Entry box is a rectangular box, which allows user to enter some text. An additional hint about
the type of text to be entered is provided near the box.

Q. 47 What are dialogue boxes ?

Ans: i) Dialogue box is a window, used by the application to interact with the user.
ii) A dialogue box can also be used to display information or to get user input and also for a
combination of these two functions.

iii) Dialogue boxes are of two types : (i) Model dialogue box ii)Modeless dialogue box.

iv) A dialogue box where an application can continue only after the user has responded to the
dialogue is called model dialogue box.

v) A dialogue box, which allows user to continue without responding to it is called modeless
dialogue box.

Question Number 48 is Skiped

Q. 49 Explain in brief the following programs of

MS-Windows :
(i) Program Manager
(ii) File Manager
(iii) Control Panel

Asked in Board Exam (March 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013) Important

Ans : MS-Windows environment provides following programs which play very important roles.

1) Program Manager :

(a) The Program Manager starts executing along with MS-Windows.

(b) This provides user interface to start and stop applications.

(c) Itis used to organize various applications into different groups.

(d) It also indicates how each group contents are controlled and displayed on the screen.

(e) It is also used to end the MS-Windows session.

2) File Manager :

(a) This helps organize user files and directories.

(b) This is used to traverse through the file system and change drives, to search, copy, move,
create or delete files and directories.
(c) Applications can be started directly from the File Manager.

3) Control Panel :

(a) It can be used to choose or change the color schemes in the applications, select and display
the background of the screen, select border width and other border characteristics, cursor
size and shape etc.

(b) Fonts also managed by controlpanel.

(c) It is also used to configure printers and other ports on the PC.

Q. 50 Define “security” with respect to an

operating system. Explain the different elements
of security?
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012) Important
Ans : 1) Security is concerned with the ability of the operating system to enforce control over
the storage and transportation of data in and between the objects, that the operating system
supports.

2) In multiuser operating systems, the concepts of security and protection are very important.
User programs should not interfere with one another or with the operating system.

3) In general, Secure Systems are those, which control, through the use of specific security
features, access to information that only properly authorized individuals or processes
operating on their behalf will have access to read, write, create or delete.

4) There are three main elements of security viz. Confidentiality, integrity and availability.

(i) Confidentiality :

Asked in Board Exam (March 2005; Oct. 2006, 2008) Important

Confidentiality ensures that information is not accessed in an unauthorized manner. It is
generally related to the Read operations.

(ii) Integrity :

Asked in Board Exam (March 2005; Oct. 2006, 2008) Important

Integrity ensures that the information is not amended or deleted by an unauthorised manner.
It is generally related to Write operations.
(iii) Availability :

Asked in Board Exam (March 2005; Oct. 2006 2008) Important

It ensures that information is available to the authorised users at right time.

Q. 51 Discuss in brief threats to security in any

computing environment.
Ans : 1) Sharing and protection are requirements of modern computing environments. But
these two are contradictory to each other as more sharing gives rise to possibility of more
security threats.

2) The major threats to security in any computing environment can be categorized as follows :

(i) Tapping : Unauthorised use of servicing.

(ii) Disclosure : Unauthorised disclosure to information.

(iii) Amendment : Unauthorised alteration or deletion of information.

(iv) Fabrication : Unauthorised fabrication of information.

(v) Denial : Denial of service to the authorized users.

3) The security threats are shown in the following figure.

Security Threats
4) Out of these five security threats, the first fwo, viz. tapping and disclosure, are categorized
as passive threats and the other three as active threats.
5) It is clear that in both the cases (i) and (ii), information goes to the third party. But, the
difference is that in tapping the third party accessed information without knowledge of other
two parties. Whereas in disclosure the source party willingly discloses information to the third
party.

Q. 52 What are attacks on security ? Explain in

short the ways in which a system can be attacked.
Asked in Board Exam (Oct. 2005) Important
Ans : The security system can be attacked and penetrated in a number of ways as follows :

1. Authentication :

Authentication means verification of access to the system resources. Following are some of
the ways in which authentication may take place :

(i) By stealing and using somebody else’s password and then use it.

(ii) Use of vendor supplied password which can be used by only system administrator.

(iii) Finding password by trial and error (i.e. guess) method.

(iv) If a user logs on and then goes off, an intruder can use that terminal.

(v) Writing dummy login programs to fool the user.

2. Browsing :

(i) In some systems, there exist files with access controls, which are very permissive.

(ii) One can browse through the system file to get this information, after which, unprotected
files/databases could be easily accessed.

(iii) Confidential information could be read or even modified.

3. Trap doors:

(i) Sometimes, software engineers leave some secret entry point to modify their programs.
These are called trap doors.

(ii) They can be misused by others.

4. Electric data capture :

Use of active or passive wire traps, or mechanism to pick up the screen radiation and to
recognize what is displayed on screen is called electric data capture.

5. Invalid parameters :

Passing invalid parameters may cause serious security violations.

6. Line trapping :

A special terminal is used to tap into a communication line. It causes access to confidential
data.

7. Waste recovery :

By using some technique, deleted files can be recovered, password may be recollected.

8. Rouge software :

Certain programs like worms, viruses attack on system.

Q. 53 What are computer worms ? Explain its mode

of operation.
Asked in Board Exam (Mar. 2003,13 Oct.2010,13) Important
Ans :
1. A computer worm is a complete program by itself. It is written in such a way that it spreads
to other computers over a network.

2. But, while doing this, it consumes the network resources to a very large extent.

3. A computer worm can potentially bring the entire network to a grinding halt.

Mode of Operation:

4. Usually a computer worm does not harm other programs or data.

5. It just spreads, thereby consuming large resources such as transmission capacity or disk
storage. It denies services to legitimate users.
6. A computer worm usually operates on a network. Each node on network maintains , a
“mailing list”, which contains the names and addresses of the reachable machines on the
network. The worm gets access to this list and using this, sends a copy of itself to all those
addresses.

7. If the worm is intelligent, after reaching a node it checks whether a copy of itself already
exist there or not. If exists, it does not create one more Copy.

8. If the worm in dumb, it just copies itself to all nodes. So, if one node’s address is at several
places in network, then it would have several copies of the worm.

9. Safe guards against worms :

A worm can be prevented by strong security and various check points on the communication
system.

Q.54 What is a computer virus ? State various

types of viruses and the basis on which they are
classified.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2002, 2006, 2007, 2011, Oct. 2007,15) Important
Ans :

1. A computer virus is a part of program, which is written with clear intention of infecting
other programs.

2. A computer virus is not a complete program by itself. It can not act independantly.

3. A computer virus causes direct harm to the system. It can corrupt code as well as data.

4. The classification of virus is based on what do it affects or where the virus resides.

5. There are five types of viruses given below :

(i) Boot sector virus
(ii) Memory resident virus
(iii) File specific virus
(iv) Command processor virus
(v) General purpose virus.
Q. 55 What are the different methods by which
virus can infect other programs ?
Asked in Board Exam (March 2005, 2011, Oct. 2007,15) Important
Ans : There are five well known methods by which a virus can infect other programs :-

(i) Append: In this method the viral code appends itself to the unaffected programs.

(ii) Replace: In this case, the viral code replaces the original executable program completely
or partially to carry out some funny actions.

(iii) Insert : In this case, the viral code is inserted in the body of an executable code to carry
out some funny or undesirable actions.

(iv) Delete : In this case, the viral code deletes some code from the executable program.

(v) Redirect : This 15 an advanced approach employed by the authors of sophisticated

viruses. The normal control flow of a program is changed to execute some other code, which
could exist as an appended portion of normal program.

Q. 56 How generally a virus operates ?

Ans:

1. A virus works in a number of ways. Normally, the developer of a virus has to be a very
bright person who knows the operating system very well in order to break it.

2. This person produces interesting or useful program such as a good game or utility.
However,
this program has some viral code embendded in it.

3. Typically, it is developed under MS-DOS, as viruses are very popular on the PCs.

4. This program is then published on the public bulletin board system or it is distributed to
people free of charge.

5. Tempted by its contents and the price, the user acquires it and then starts using it after
copying it onto the machine.
6. At this stage, the virus can be said to be in a nascent state. After executing the game or the
utility i.e. the host program, the virus also executes, which allows it to spread to other
programs on the machine and infect them.

Q. 57 Discuss virus detection, removal and

prevention philosophies.
Asked in Board Exam (Mar. 2008,11,16; Oct. 2003,05,13) Important
Ans :

(i) Virus detection :

1. Normally, a virus detection program checks the integrity of the binary files.
2. The program maintains a check sum on each file. A mismatch in it indicates virus.
3. Some programs reside in the memory and continuously monitor certain memory
and I/O operations for guarding against any suspicious behavior.
(ii) Virus removal :

1. A generalized virus removal program is very difficult to imagine due to the

multiplicity of the viruses and the creativity with which they are constructed.
2. However, for some viruses, bit pattern in code can be predicted.
3. In this case virus removal program scans the disk for the patterns of known
viruses.
On detection, it removes them. But, if the virus has already damaged data, then
recovery of data is almost impossible.
(iii) Virus prevention :

1. User cannot cure the data (recover) after viral affection. Hence the best way is to
prevent viruses.
2. For this user must buy official, legal copies of software from reliable stores or
sources.
3. One should be extremely careful about picking up free, unreliable or illegal
software.
4. Frequent back-ups and running of monitoring programs also help in detection,
and thus subsequent prevention of different viruses.
Q. 58 Differentiate between computer worms and
computer viruses.
Asked in Board Exam (March 2004,09,12,14,15) Important
Ans :
Computer worms :
i) A computer worm is a complete program.
ii) A computer worm can act independently.
iii) Generally it do not cause direct harm to computer system.
iv) It just goes on spreading on to network and consumes network resources to a large extent.

Computer viruses :

i) A computer virus is not a complete program, but a part of program.

ii) A computer virus can not act independently.
iii) It causes direct harm to the computer system. It has been written with clear intention of
infecting others.
iv) A computer virus corrupts codes and data.

Q. 59 What is the difference between a Worm and

a Virus? Explain how these can be prevented.
Ans :
Difference between a Worm and a Virus : Refer Q. No. 58.

1) Worm Prevention : A worm can be prevented by strong and various check points on
communication system.

2) Virus Prevention :
(a) Users cannot cure the data after viral affection. Hence the best way is to prevent
viruses.
(b) For this user must buy official, legal copies of software from reliable stores or sources,
(c) One should be extremely careful about picking up free unreliable or illegal software.
(d) Frequent back-ups and running of monitoring programs also help in detection, and
thus subsequent prevention of different viruses.