Operating System Process States

What does the 'New' state of a process signify?

In which state is a process when it is actively executing instructions?

When a process is waiting for an I/O operation to complete, which state is it in?

What characterizes the 'Ready' state of a process?

How many processes can be in the 'Running' state at any given time on a processor?

What type of information is contained within a process control block (PCB)?

Which of the following is NOT typically included in a process control block?

What purpose does the program counter serve within a PCB?

When an interrupt occurs, what must be saved for the process to continue correctly afterward?

Which piece of information in the PCB helps in managing the scheduling of processes?

Process States:

'New' State: A process in the 'New' state is newly created and not yet ready to be executed. It hasn't been assigned any system resources like memory or CPU time. Imagine it as a newly created file on your computer, it's there, but not yet used.
'Running' State: A process in the 'Running' state is actively executing instructions on the CPU. It's the only state where the process is performing computations and making progress. Picture it as a program window that's open and doing work.
'Waiting' State: A process in the 'Waiting' state is waiting for a specific event to occur, typically an I/O operation like reading from a disk or receiving data from a network. It's paused and waiting for resources to become available. Think of it as a downloaded file waiting to be unzipped. It's there, but needs something to complete before being accessed.
'Ready' State: A process in the 'Ready' state is ready to execute and waiting for a time slot on the CPU. It has all the resources it needs, but the CPU is occupied by another process. This is like having multiple programs open on your computer, but only one can be active at a time.
'Running' State - Only one, at most, process can be in the 'Running' state at any given time on a single processor. Multiple processes might be running if there are multiple processor cores.

This quiz tests your understanding of the various states of a process in an operating system. You will explore the definitions and characteristics of states such as 'New', 'Running', 'Waiting', and 'Ready'. This is crucial for anyone studying computer science and operating systems.