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Introduction To Computers Question Paper

Introduction To Computers

Course:Diploma In Information Technology (Information Technology)

Institution: Kenya Polytechnic question papers

Exam Year:2006

1.(a) (i) Explain two reasons why computers are considered as electronic devices.
(ii) State four categories of micro computers.(4 marks)
(b) (i) Identify three criteria used to classify processors giving an example in each case.
(ii) Distinguish between Zip and Flash disk.(7 marks)
(c) (i) Outline the procedure for defragmenting a hard disk in window based environment.
(ii) Joseph,a data entry clerk, has a task of generating labels for CDs and DVDs. Justifying your answer suggest the most appropriate type of application software he would use to achieve this objective.(6 marks)
(d) State two roles of each of the following computer specialists;
(i) Computer Engineer;
(ii) Data Administrator;
(iii) Network Administrator.(3 marks)

2.(a) Describe the following preventive maintenance procedures that can be applied to a computer giving an example in each case:
(i) Active;
(ii) Passive.(4 marks)
(b) (i) Distinguish between physical and logical security as applied in computer systems.
(ii) Susan realized that her computer had run out of memory, produced illegal files and the disk access rights kept turning on without any activity initiated.
I.Identify the most probable cause of the problem.
II.Suggest the possible solution to the problem.(4 marks)
(c) (i) Explain the function of a gateway as applied in computer networks.
(ii) With the aid of diagrams, describe two main types of LANs.(8 marks)
(d) (i) Identify two characteristics of modern operating systems.
(ii) Explain two positive impacts of computers in an organization.(4 marks)

3. (a) (i) Name the most appropriate port where each of the following peripheral devices can be connected;
I.Digital camera
II.Dotmatrix printer
III.Modem
IV.Monitor
(ii) Explain two factors that should be considered when upgrading a computer memory.(4 marks)
(b) State the function of the following short cut keys in a window based environment;
(i) Alt+tab
(ii) Alt+F4
(iii) Ctrl+Alt+Del
(v) F1.(2 marks)
(c) (i) Distinguish between 2nd and 3rd generations of operating systems.
(ii) With the aid of diagrams,describe the following operating system structures:
I.Layered;
II.Client-serve model.
(iii) State the most appropriate type of processing mode where each of the structures in c (ii) can be applied.(14 marks)

4.(a) Explain the following terms as used in operating system:
(i) System calls;
(ii) Address space;
(iii) Shell.(3 marks)
(b) With the aid of a diagram,describe a typical structure of a page table as applied in memory management.(5 marks)
(c) (i) With the aid of a diagram,describe the three components of a process state.
(ii) Differentiate between 'Mutual Exclusion' and Sleep and Wake up' mechanisms as used in inter-process communication.
(iii) In race conditions,parallel processes do not sufficiently co-operate nor efficiently use the shared data.
Propose four conditions that could provide a good solution to this problem.(12 marks)

5.(a) (i) Describe preemptive scheduling.
(ii) Explain four factors to consider when choosing a scheduling algorithm.(6 marks)
(b) Figure 1 illustrates the functioning of a time-sharing processing system.
Use it to answer the questions that follow.
A(Current process)-------F(Next process)----D---G F(Current process)---D---G---A (a) (b) Figure 1
(i) Identify the scheduling algorithm represented by the figure justifying your answer.
(ii) State two advantages and two disadvantages of the algorithm identified in b (i).(6 marks)
(c) (i) With the aid of a diagram,describe a deadlock as applied in process management.
(ii) Explain four conditions necessary for a deadlock to occur.(8 marks)

6.(a) Explain three objectives of device management.(6 marks)
(b) Differenciate between block and character I/O devices.(4 marks)
(c) (i) Define the term 'file system'.
(ii) Identify two most appropriate file systems for a networked environment.
(iii) With the aid of diagrams,describe three file structures that can be applied by an operating system.(10 marks)

7.(a) (i) Explain three factors that determine disk access time.
(ii) Draw a diagram to represent the structure of a typical I/O software clearly showing the order of the layers.
(iv) State a function of each of the layers illustrated in a (ii).(11 marks)
(b) Write MS-DOS commands necessary to perform the following tasks:
(i) display directory names with less than 4 characters;
(ii) display all executable files in the hard disk;
(iii) display all files names starting with letter K and ending with letter Y.(3 mark)
(c) With the aid of diagrams,describe the following file implementation techniques
(i) linked list allocation;
(ii) contiguous allocation.(6 marks)

8.(a) Describe four components of a file descriptor(4 marks)
(b) (i) Distinguish between clock software and clock hardware.
(ii) With the aid of diagrams,describe the following disk arm scheduling policies:
I.SCAN;
II.C-SCAN.
(iii) Explain two errors associated with disk access.(12 marks)
(c) (i) Explain the term 'block cache' as applied in file system performance.
(ii) Identify two benefits of implementing 'block cache'in a computer system.(4 marks)

Introduction To Computers Question Paper

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