PC Operating Systems: Midterm Study

If your address bus is 20-bits wide, approximately how much memory can your computer address?

1024K bytes

Part of the CPU which is the calculator, and holds a number. It is a digital circuit that performs integer arithmetic and logical operations.

ALU - Arithmetic/Logic Unit

Which of the following can be described as program code that acts as a specialized hook into the operating system?

API - Application Programming Interface

Functions or programming features in an operating system that programmers can use for network links, links to messaging services, or interfaces to other systems.

Application Programming Interface (API)

You are building a new PC for yourself. You want your computer to have a dual-core processor made by AMD. Which processor family should you choose?

Athlon X2

Low-level program code that conducts basic hardware and software communications inside the computer.

BIOS - basic input / output system

A computer CPU architecture in which processor components are reconfigured to conduct different operations as required.

CISC - Complex Instruction Set Computing

Part of the CPU which directs operation of the processor. It controls communication and co-ordination between input/output devices. It reads and interprets instructions and determines the sequence for processing the data.

Control unit

Also called a folder in my file systems, an organizational structure that contains files and may contain folders under it.

Directory

Which of the following folders in a Windows file system is NOT typically located directly off the root?

Documents

What RISC processor design can build multiple instructions into a single word and can combine instructions into groups, allowing parallel operation?

EPIC

Which of the following is true about Windows FAT and NTFS file systems?

FAT32 can be converted to NTFS using the convert command

A single device driver typically communicates with several different hardware devices.

False

Most modern operating systems use cooperative multitasking.

False

A way to secure Internet protocol (IP) traffic by encrypting and authenticating each packet.

IP Security (IPsec)

Part of the CPU that holds the actual instruction being executed.

IR - Instruction Register

Cache memory that is part of the CPU hardware.

Level 1 (L1) cache

Cache memory that, in most computer CPU designs, is located on hardware separate from, but close to, the CPU.

Level 2 (L2) cache

Cache memory that is located on a chip, which is separate from, but close to the CPU, when L1 and L2 cache are both already built into the CPU.

Level 3 (L3) Cache

A Windows 7 feature consisting of virtual folders that contain data and information from various places on the network and the local computer.

Library

Part of the CPU that holds the address of a memory location; the xx

MAR - Memory Address Register

Part of the CPU that holds the data the MAR went to access

MDR - Memory Data Register

You are troubleshooting a friend's computer and your diagnostic software reports a problem with the MFT. What file system is your friend's computer using?

NTFS

Part of the CPU that holds the address of the current instruction

PC/PCR -Program Counter Register

You have heard that the Linux distribution your are going to install to run a new application runs best on a RISC architecture. Which of the following CPU families should you consider for the computer on which you will install this Linux distribution?

SPARC

A feature of some Microsoft operating systems that allows for better protection of user accounts by controlling permissions and by limiting the software applications that can be run from an account.

User Account Protection (UAP).

Your OS software which you receive to install consists of the OS and the _______.

Utilities

You work for a college that was just donated a computer with an Itanium processor. Which of the following OSs can NOT be installed on this computer?

Vista 64-bit

A word processor is best described as which operating system element?

application

Which of the following is least concerned with a computer's specific hardware configuration?

applications

You have installed a new network adapter in your computer and reboot the OS. You go to check the settings of the network adapter but you cannot find the device in Windows. What is the most likely problem?

bad or missing device driver

A computing style frequently employed by large systems. A request for a series of processes is submitted to the computer; information is displayed or printed when the batch is complete.

batch processing

A path or channel between a computer's CPU and the devices it manages, such as memory and disk storage.

bus

Internal computer hardware that manages the data going into and loaded from the computer's cache memory

cache controller

Which hardware component predicts what data will be needed and makes that data available to the CPU's internal memory?

cache controller

Special computer memory that temporarily stores data used by the CPU and is faster than standard system memory, enabling faster retrieval and processing time.

cache memory

A computer hardware and software design in which different portions of an application execute on different computers, or on different components of a single computer.

client / server systems

An interface that enables the user to display a command line from which to enter commands, such as through the command Prompt window in Windows operating systems and the terminal window in Linux and Mac OS X.

command-line interface

Computer software designed to provide the operating system and application software access to specific computer hardware.

device driver

Which of the following elements of a file system connects the names of files to the file data stored on the disk?

directory

You want to implement a system that hosts scalable Web-based applications accessible through a Web browser. This system should be available only to your company but the resources should be made available through a third-party. What type of system should you use?

hosted private cloud

Which of the following is best described as a technology that enables a single processor to appear as two processors to the OS and allows multiple threads to run simultaneously?

hyper-threading

Which of the following is true about RISC CPU hardware?

it is less complicated and can run at faster clock speeds

If you have a Windows computer with three hard drives, each with three partitions, what drive letter is assigned to the third partition on the third hard drive?

k

An essential set of programs and computer code built into a computer operating system to control processor, disk, memory, and other functions central to the basic operation of a computer.

kernel

A CPU that has two or more sections that read and execute instructions is referred to as which of the following?

multicore processor

A technique that allows a computer to run two or more programs at the same time.

multitasking

A computer hardware and software system designed to service multiple users who access the computer's hardware and software applications simultaneously.

multiuser system

You have a new hard disk that you want to put two different OSs on but each OS requires a different file system. What procedure must you perform before you can install the two OSs?

partition the disk into two logical drives and install an OS on each logical drive

Which feature of RISC CPUs allows the processor to operate on one instruction at the same time it is fetching one or more subsequent instructions?

pipelining

A computer hardware and software design for multitasking of applications in which the operating system retains control of the computer at all times.

preemptive multitasking

The OS controls when an application can use the CPU describes

preemptive multitasking

A version of a Microsoft operating system that is officially released to be sold and that has gone through the alpha, beta, and release candidate phases prior to official release.

release to manufacturing (RTM)

Programs that manage computer memory and CPU use.

resource manager

In a folder hierarchy, the top level is referred to as which of the following?

root

A computer processing style in which each operation is submitted, acted upon, and the results displayed before the next process is started.

sequential processing

A computer operating system usually found on more powerful PC-based computers than those used for desktop operating systems, which is connected to a network, and that can act in many roles to enable multiple users to access information, such as e-mail, files, and software.

server operating system

An interface to enable humans to interact with an operating system kernel. It enables the user to execute commands.

shell

A computer hardware ans software system that enables only one user to access its resources at a particular time.

single-user system

A computer that has extreme processing power and speed to handle complex computations that are beyond the reach of other computers.

supercomputer

A hybrid between single-tasking and multitasking that permits the user application software to switch among multiple single-tasking operations.

task switching

A central computer system, such as a mainframe, that is used by multiple users and applications simultaneously.

time-sharing system

Which of the following statements is true about how disk drives are organized?

tracks are divided into sectors

You have just partitioned a new disk into three partitions and formatted them NTFS 5. You want to be able to access these partitions as folders on the current C: drive. What feature can you use?

volume mount points

Used to hold data or programming code in a computer. The size varies among computers.

word