Windows Interview Questions and Answers
A series of Operating systems developed by Microsoft Corporation, Windows is widely used for PCs and laptops. It has a built-in graphical user interface and comes with a desktop to view files and folders in a more organized and more comfortable manner. Check out our Windows interview questions to know how Windows has revolutionized the computer industry and how it can be used both for home and professional purposes. Windows can be easily installed on various hardware systems. Starting Windows 7, the OS allows touchscreen features, which makes it usable on tablets and phones other than computers. Most organizations prefer Windows as their OS because of the ease of use and software availability.
Advantages of Windows
- Very easy to use, even those who don’t know programming language can use.
- Supports almost all the new and existing hardware available in the market
- Backward compatibility
- Plenty of software and applications are available to work on.
- Fast and much suitable for those who love gaming
Want to crack essential interviews? Check out our comprehensive list of Windows interview questions below.
Most Frequently Asked Windows Interview Questions
Here in this article, we will be listing frequently asked Windows Interview Questions and Answers with the belief that they will be helpful for you to gain higher marks. Also, to let you know that this article has been written under the guidance of industry professionals and covered all the current competencies.
Five main functions of an OS are –
- System boot – starting (or restarting) a computer.
- Load and execute programs – facilitates loading of user and system programs into the memory to execute them efficiently.
- Managing memory –efficiently allows memory to different programs that run parallelly on a computer. Without OS, there will be chaos amongst various programs.
- Scheduling – If there are many processes to be run, the OS prioritizes and decides which method should get the CPU first.
- Security – OS prevents a user from accessing system files that should be protected from accidental or illegal modification or deletion.
We need windows because it is
- a user-friendly operating system,
- has graphical display making it easy to use,
- accessing and organizing data is simple and faster,
- reasonably priced.
| S.no | WINDOW | WINDOWS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Refers to a single work box on the computer screen. | Refers to the whole operating system on which applications and programs run |
| 2. | Example – a word document, photo viewer, explorer, etc.… | Example – Windows95, WindowsNT, Windows7 etc.… |
Understand how Windows works, with our easy to understand answers about Windows interview questions.
There are 3 main types –
- Windows for PC – the most famous earlier version was Windows 95. The current version is Windows 10.
- Windows for servers – Windows NT, Windows 2000 and 2016 are a few examples of high-power workstations or servers.
- Windows for phone – Windows for the phone is not as popular as for desktops or servers. The last software is named as Windows 10 phone which has been applied only to a very few phones.
Windows server is used for machines that host websites and support more users at the same time. They can handle heavy loads that can be run as background processes, unlike windows PC that interacts directly with users.
Read more details about features of Windows in our list of Windows interview questions.
| S.no | THREAD | PROCESS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Runs in a shared memory space and uses shared system resources. | Each process runs in a separate memory space and provides the required resources |
| 2. | Simple, the small task can be categorized as a thread. | A complex task that has at least one thread of execution. There can be multiple concurrent threads in a process. |
| 3. | Context switching between threads is easier | Context switching is more time-consuming |
How can I see all IP addresses on my network using CMD?
Active directory is a domain service provided by Microsoft to store information about network objects. This information is then readily available to network admins and users. Active directory supports distributed environments. The objects can be users, devices, passwords, computers, etc.…
| S.no | 32-bit | 64-bit |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Can access 2^32 memory addresses or 4GB RAM | Can access 2^64 memory addresses which means 18billion GB RAM. |
| 2. | Can perform fewer calculations per second | Capable of performing many calculations per second because of multiple cores |
| 3. | The system can be slow while using many applications | Great speed even while using heavy applications like high-graphic games or Photoshop |
Windows 7 is more advanced compared to Windows XP –
- provides an excellent graphical interface over XP.
- Shutdown and restart are quicker
- Has user defined themes and customizations
- No need to install drivers as it comes with the OS
- Better kernel performance and security
| S.no | Windows 7 | Windows 10 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Has the traditional start menu | Live tiles also appear along with the standard menu |
| 2. | Search bar searches for a word in all files, apps, and folders on the PC | In addition to files, folders, and apps, the search is linked to the app store. It is also easy to open any files from the windows key itself. |
| 3. | No built-in assistant | Built-in interactive assistant named Cortana. |
| 4. | Has internet explorer browser | Came up with the edge which is faster and has advanced capabilities |
| 5. | Only for PCs and laptops | Can be synced across PC, laptop and windows phone |
| S.no | LINUX | WINDOWS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Free of cost and open source | Commercial and comes with a price |
| 2. | Completely customizable | user cannot access any system files |
| 3. | Highly secure | Quite prone to viruses |
| 4. | Complex for users who are not from a programming background | Even a layman can operate |
| 5. | Can be booted from a logical or primary partition | Has to be booted from primary partition only |
| 6. | Consumes more running space | Uses microkernel that takes lesser space |
| 7. | File names are case sensitive | File names are not case-sensitive |