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Operating Systems
Following are a few basic questions that cover the essentials of OS:

1. Explain the concept of Reentrancy.

It is a useful, memory-saving technique for multiprogrammed timesharing systems. A Reentrant Procedure
is one in which multiple users can share a single copy of a program during the same period. Reentrancy has 2 key
aspects: The program code cannot modify itself, and the local data for each user process must be stored separately.
Thus, the permanent part is the code, and the temporary part is the pointer back to the calling program and local
variables used by that program. Each execution instance is called activation. It executes the code in the permanent
part, but has its own copy of local variables/parameters. The temporary part associated with each activation is the
activation record. Generally, the activation record is kept on the stack.
Note: A reentrant procedure can be interrupted and called by an interrupting program, and still execute
correctly on returning to the procedure.

2. Explain Belady's Anomaly.

Also called FIFO anomaly. Usually, on increasing the number of frames allocated to a process' virtual
memory, the process execution is faster, because fewer page faults occur. Sometimes, the reverse happens, i.e., the
execution time increases even when more frames are allocated to the process. This is Belady's Anomaly. This is
true for certain page reference patterns.

3. What is a binary semaphore? What is its use?

A binary semaphore is one, which takes only 0 and 1 as values. They are used to implement mutual
exclusion and synchronize concurrent processes.

4. What is thrashing?
It is a phenomenon in virtual memory schemes when the processor spends most of its time swapping pages,
rather than executing instructions. This is due to an inordinate number of page faults.

5. List the Coffman's conditions that lead to a deadlock.

 Mutual Exclusion: Only one process may use a critical resource at a time.
 Hold & Wait: A process may be allocated some resources while waiting for others.
 No Pre-emption: No resource can be forcible removed from a process holding it.
 Circular Wait: A closed chain of processes exist such that each process holds at least one resource needed by
another process in the chain.

6. What are short-, long- and medium-term scheduling?

Long term scheduler determines which programs are admitted to the system for processing. It controls the
degree of multiprogramming. Once admitted, a job becomes a process.
Medium term scheduling is part of the swapping function. This relates to processes that are in a blocked or
suspended state. They are swapped out of real-memory until they are ready to execute. The swapping-in decision is
based on memory-management criteria.

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Short term scheduler, also know as a dispatcher executes most frequently, and makes the finest-grained
decision of which process should execute next. This scheduler is invoked whenever an event occurs. It may lead to
interruption of one process by preemption.

7. What are turnaround time and response time?

Turnaround time is the interval between the submission of a job and its completion. Response time is the
interval between submission of a request, and the first response to that request.

8. What are the typical elements of a process image?

 User data: Modifiable part of user space. May include program data, user stack area, and programs that may be
modified.
 User program: The instructions to be executed.
 System Stack: Each process has one or more LIFO stacks associated with it. Used to store parameters and
calling addresses for procedure and system calls.
 Process control Block (PCB): Info needed by the OS to control processes.

9. What is the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)?

In a cached system, the base addresses of the last few referenced pages is maintained in registers called the
TLB that aids in faster lookup. TLB contains those page-table entries that have been most recently used. Normally,
each virtual memory reference causes 2 physical memory accesses-- one to fetch appropriate page-table entry, and
one to fetch the desired data. Using TLB in-between, this is reduced to just one physical memory access in cases of
TLB-hit.

10. What is the resident set and working set of a process?

Resident set is that portion of the process image that is actually in real-memory at a particular instant.
Working set is that subset of resident set that is actually needed for execution. (Relate this to the variable-window
size method for swapping techniques.)

11. When is a system in safe state?

The set of dispatchable processes is in a safe state if there exists at least one temporal order in which all
processes can be run to completion without resulting in a deadlock.

12. What is cycle stealing?

We encounter cycle stealing in the context of Direct Memory Access (DMA). Either the DMA controller
can use the data bus when the CPU does not need it, or it may force the CPU to temporarily suspend operation. The
latter technique is called cycle stealing. Note that cycle stealing can be done only at specific break points in an
instruction cycle.

13. What is meant by arm-stickiness?

If one or a few processes have a high access rate to data on one track of a storage disk, then they may
monopolize the device by repeated requests to that track. This generally happens with most common device
scheduling algorithms (LIFO, SSTF, C-SCAN, etc). High-density multisurface disks are more likely to be affected
by this than low density ones.

14. What are the stipulations of C2 level security?

C2 level security provides for:

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 Discretionary Access Control

 Identification and Authentication
 Auditing
 Resource reuse

15. What is busy waiting?

The repeated execution of a loop of code while waiting for an event to occur is called busy-waiting. The
CPU is not engaged in any real productive activity during this period, and the process does not progress toward
completion.

16. Explain the popular multiprocessor thread-scheduling strategies.

 Load Sharing: Processes are not assigned to a particular processor. A global queue of threads is maintained.
Each processor, when idle, selects a thread from this queue. Note that load balancing refers to a scheme where
work is allocated to processors on a more permanent basis.
 Gang Scheduling: A set of related threads is scheduled to run on a set of processors at the same time, on a 1-to-
1 basis. Closely related threads / processes may be scheduled this way to reduce synchronization blocking, and
minimize process switching. Group scheduling predated this strategy.
 Dedicated processor assignment: Provides implicit scheduling defined by assignment of threads to processors.
For the duration of program execution, each program is allocated a set of processors equal in number to the
number of threads in the program. Processors are chosen from the available pool.
 Dynamic scheduling: The number of thread in a program can be altered during the course of execution.

17. When does the condition 'rendezvous' arise?

In message passing, it is the condition in which, both, the sender and receiver are blocked until the message
is delivered.

18. What is a trap and trapdoor?

Trapdoor is a secret undocumented entry point into a program used to grant access without normal methods
of access authentication. A trap is a software interrupt, usually the result of an error condition.

19. What are local and global page replacements?

Local replacement means that an incoming page is brought in only to the relevant process' address space.
Global replacement policy allows any page frame from any process to be replaced. The latter is applicable to
variable partitions model only.

20. Define latency, transfer and seek time with respect to disk I/O.
Seek time is the time required to move the disk arm to the required track. Rotational delay or latency is the
time it takes for the beginning of the required sector to reach the head. Sum of seek time (if any) and latency is the
access time. Time taken to actually transfer a span of data is transfer time.

21. Describe the Buddy system of memory allocation.

Free memory is maintained in linked lists, each of equal sized blocks. Any such block is of size 2^k. When
some memory is required by a process, the block size of next higher order is chosen, and broken into two. Note that
the two such pieces differ in address only in their kth bit. Such pieces are called buddies. When any used block is
freed, the OS checks to see if its buddy is also free. If so, it is rejoined, and put into the original free-block linked-
list.

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22. What is time-stamping?

It is a technique proposed by Lamport, used to order events in a distributed system without the use of
clocks. This scheme is intended to order events consisting of the transmission of messages. Each system 'i' in the
network maintains a counter Ci. Every time a system transmits a message, it increments its counter by 1 and
attaches the time-stamp Ti to the message. When a message is received, the receiving system 'j' sets its counter Cj
to 1 more than the maximum of its current value and the incoming time-stamp Ti. At each site, the ordering of
messages is determined by the following rules: For messages x from site i and y from site j, x precedes y if one of
the following conditions holds....(a) if Ti<Tj or (b) if Ti=Tj and i<j.

23. How are the wait/signal operations for monitor different from those for semaphores?
If a process in a monitor signal and no task is waiting on the condition variable, the signal is lost. So this
allows easier program design. Whereas in semaphores, every operation affects the value of the semaphore, so the
wait and signal operations should be perfectly balanced in the program.

24. In the context of memory management, what are placement and replacement algorithms?
Placement algorithms determine where in available real-memory to load a program. Common methods are
first-fit, next-fit, best-fit. Replacement algorithms are used when memory is full, and one process (or part of a
process) needs to be swapped out to accommodate a new program. The replacement algorithm determines which
are the partitions to be swapped out.

25. In loading programs into memory, what is the difference between load-time dynamic linking and run-time
dynamic linking?
For load-time dynamic linking: Load module to be loaded is read into memory. Any reference to a target
external module causes that module to be loaded and the references are updated to a relative address from the start
base address of the application module.
With run-time dynamic loading: Some of the linking is postponed until actual reference during execution.
Then the correct module is loaded and linked.

26. What are demand- and pre-paging?

With demand paging, a page is brought into memory only when a location on that page is actually
referenced during execution. With pre-paging, pages other than the one demanded by a page fault are brought in.
The selection of such pages is done based on common access patterns, especially for secondary memory devices.

27. Paging a memory management function, while multiprogramming a processor management function, are the
two interdependent?
Yes.

28. What is page cannibalizing?

Page swapping or page replacements are called page cannibalizing.

29. What has triggered the need for multitasking in PCs?

 Increased speed and memory capacity of microprocessors together with the support fir virtual memory and
 Growth of client server computing

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30. What are the four layers that Windows NT have in order to achieve independence?
 Hardware abstraction layer
 Kernel
 Subsystems
 System Services.

31. What is SMP?

To achieve maximum efficiency and reliability a mode of operation known as symmetric multiprocessing is
used. In essence, with SMP any process or threads can be assigned to any processor.

32. What are the key object oriented concepts used by Windows NT?
 Encapsulation
 Object class and instance

33. Is Windows NT a full blown object oriented operating system? Give reasons.
No Windows NT is not so, because its not implemented in object oriented language and the data structures
reside within one executive component and are not represented as objects and it does not support object oriented
capabilities .

34. What is a drawback of MVT?

It does not have the features like
 ability to support multiple processors
 virtual storage
 source level debugging

35. What is process spawning?

When the OS at the explicit request of another process creates a process, this action is called process
spawning.

36. How many jobs can be run concurrently on MVT?

15 jobs

37. List out some reasons for process termination.

 Normal completion
 Time limit exceeded
 Memory unavailable
 Bounds violation
 Protection error
 Arithmetic error
 Time overrun
 I/O failure
 Invalid instruction
 Privileged instruction
 Data misuse
 Operator or OS intervention

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 Parent termination.

38. What are the reasons for process suspension?

 swapping
 interactive user request
 timing
 parent process request

39. What is process migration?

It is the transfer of sufficient amount of the state of process from one machine to the target machine

40. What is mutant?

In Windows NT a mutant provides kernel mode or user mode mutual exclusion with the notion of
ownership.

41. What is an idle thread?

The special thread a dispatcher will execute when no ready thread is found.

42. What is FtDisk?

It is a fault tolerance disk driver for Windows NT.

43. What are the possible threads a thread can have?

 Ready
 Standby
 Running
 Waiting
 Transition
 Terminated.

44. What are rings in Windows NT?

Windows NT uses protection mechanism called rings provides by the process to implement separation
between the user mode and kernel mode.

45. What is Executive in Windows NT?

In Windows NT, executive refers to the operating system code that runs in kernel mode.

46. What are the sub-components of I/O manager in Windows NT?

 Network redirector/ Server
 Cache manager.
 File systems
 Network driver
 Device driver

47. What are DDks? Name an operating system that includes this feature.
DDks are device driver kits, which are equivalent to SDKs for writing device drivers. Windows NT includes

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DDks.

48. What level of security does Windows NT meets?

C2 level security.

What's the difference between Windows 2000 and Windows XP?

Intended For
Windows XP
Windows 2000

An:- Windows 2000 and Windows XP are essentially the same operating system (known internally as Windows
NT 5.0 and Windows NT 5.1, respectively.) Here are some considerations if you're trying to decide which version
to use:

Windows 2000 benefits

Windows 2000 has lower system requirements, and has a simpler interface (no "Styles" to mess with).
Windows 2000 is slightly less expensive, and has no product activation.
Windows 2000 has been out for a while, and most of the common problems and security holes have been
uncovered and fixed.
Third-party software and hardware products that aren't yet XP-compatible may be compatible with
Windows 2000; check the manufacturers of your devices and applications for XP support before you
upgrade.

Windows XP benefits
Windows XP is somewhat faster than Windows 2000, assuming you have a fast processor and tons of memory
(although it will run fine with a 300Mhz Pentium II and 128MB of RAM).
The new Windows XP interface is more cheerful and colorful than earlier versions, although the less-cartoony
"Classic" interface can still be used if desired.
Windows XP has more bells and whistles, such as the Windows Movie Maker, built-in CD writer support, the
Internet Connection Firewall, and Remote Desktop Connection.
Windows XP has better support for games and comes with more games than Windows 2000.
Windows XP is the latest OS - if you don't upgrade now, you'll probably end up migrating to XP eventually
anyway, and we mere mortals can only take so many OS upgrades.
Manufacturers of existing hardware and software products are more likely to add Windows XP compatibility now
than Windows 2000 compatibility.

The major Differences between Windows Xp & Vista are :

Windows Vista & Windows XP

1. Bitlocker Option available Windows XP has . No Bitlocker option

- Bitlocker drive encryption,

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Bitlocker on volume
Prevents hard drive from hackers

2. Windows Vista has Windows Defender tool Windows XP has No Windows Defender tool available
- prevents from spyware & unwanted
S/W installing on computer

3. Windows Vista has Parental control Feature Windows XP has No Parental control Feature
- This option enables parents to restrict
Children’s which sites, games .software
to use & not
It would seem that most individuals have become so accustomed and comfortable with using Windows XP that
many don’t want to make the transition over to the Windows Vista. Technically, we are creatures of habit so when
it comes to making changes it’s not all that easy.

Like most things there are good and bad points about both XP and Vista.

The start menu is more advanced in Vista compared to XP. With Vista, you have a much broader range of search
leverage. Another significant change is in the “All Programs” area. XP can be somewhat of a problem to keep the
programs organized when you have several whereas with the Vista the programs are scrolled within the start menu
making it much less confusing when you want to find a particular program.

Everyone finds the “All Programs List” in XP frustrating. It can be overwhelming with its 3 column wide display.
Now in Vista the folders open and close with a single click. In addition to this in Vista, the ability to search is
always present. This way to find something you just type the item and all related items appear quickly.
In Vista there is a power button in the bottom right hand corner. This allows all the pending updates to be installed
and then once the update process is completed puts the computer into sleep mode. This is not something that XP
has.

In XP when you want to perform the lock function you have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del whereas in Vista there is a simple
lock button that will perform the task. In addition to these power functions, you will find other related power
functions available to you by way of a pop up menu. In essence, these are all merely time savers and a means of
convenience.

According to Microsoft, security of Windows Vista is much improved than XP. As part of this, a new feature called
UAC (User Account Control) is included in Vista.

One of the critical differences between both, is the hardware requirements. To achieve the same level of
performance as XP, Vista requires more advanced or additional hardware .

Quite often, when one becomes comfortable with a Program such as XP, they really don’t place a lot of emphasis
on small time savers .
Windows 7 vs Windows Vista

Windows 7 is the latest operating system that has come from Microsoft. It has garnered some rave reviews from
most users due in part to how much the previous operating system, Windows Vista, was shunned. Though,

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performance wise, Windows 7 is still a little bit behind compared to Windows XP, it can now compete at some
level while still maintaining the look and feel of Windows Vista.

Windows Vista was supposed to be the ground breaking operating system from Microsoft. It offered a lot of new
features including the very beautiful Aero interface and the User Access Control or UAC that was supposed to
lessen the possibility of intrusion from malicious programs. Though this features were meant to improve the overall
performance, most people had a lot of problems with it, turning it into an annoyance. Windows 7 focused on a lot of
changes that were meant to improve the user experience compared to Vista. For this reason, we can think of
Windows 7 as an overhaul of Vista with a few more features.

Windows 7 also aims to fix the inefficiency of Windows Vista when it comes to hardware utilization. Most of the
people who migrated from XP to Vista experienced massive slowdowns in their systems and were forced to disable
some of the features in Vista, like Aero, to make it usable. Windows 7 has also addressed this issues and users
would not be in for such a shock even if they are coming from Windows XP.

The general problem for both these operating systems is in its inability to run a lot of applications that are running
in Windows XP. This made a lot of people who are dependent on their software unable to upgrade. Though it is
expected that Windows 7 would suffer from the same problems, it is likely to be much less more programs have
been written for Vista which are also compatible for 7.
To sum it up, Windows 7 is simply superior to Vista in almost all aspects. Even benchmarks done on the beta
version of Windows 7 showed a substantial improvement over Vista. For these reasons, some people are skipping
Vista altogether and upgrading directly to Windows 7 from XP.

Summary:
1.Windows 7 is the later release compared to Vista
2.Where Vista focuses on new features, Windows 7 focuses on stability
3.Vista has higher requirements than Windows 7
4.Windows 7 has more compatible programs during its release compared to Windows Vista
5.Windows 7 performs better than Vista in almost all aspects

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