Question

Suppose in a time-shared operating system, a certain process is performing I/O. It must be in which one of the following states?

• A. Ready
• B. Blocked
• C. Terminating
• D. Running

Hint:

If a process is waiting for any event like I/O completion, it is always in the Blocked or Waiting state.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding process states.
In an operating system, a process can be in states such as Ready, Running, Blocked (Waiting), or Terminated. Each state represents the current activity or condition of the process.
Step 2: Analyzing the I/O operation.
When a process performs an I/O operation, it cannot continue execution until the I/O operation is completed. Therefore, it must wait for the I/O device to finish its task.
Step 3: Identifying the correct state.
A process that is waiting for an I/O operation to complete is placed in the Blocked (or Waiting) state. It is neither Ready nor Running during this time.
Step 4: Final conclusion.
Hence, a process performing I/O must be in the Blocked state.