BPSC 4.0 Computer fundamentals MCQ Class -2 ( Memory) 2025

TOP 50 important questions and answers related to computer fundamentals, specifically focusing on memory:

1. What is memory in a computer?

Memory in a computer is a hardware device or component used to store data and instructions that the processor can quickly access.

2. What is the difference between primary and secondary memory?

Primary Memory: Temporary and fast memory like RAM (Random Access Memory).
Secondary Memory: Permanent storage, such as hard drives or SSDs.

3. What is RAM?

Random Access Memory (RAM) is a type of volatile memory that temporarily stores data and instructions needed by the CPU.

4. What is ROM?

Read-Only Memory (ROM) is non-volatile memory that contains data that is permanently written during manufacturing and cannot be changed easily.

5. What is the difference between RAM and ROM?

RAM: Volatile, temporary memory used for running applications and active data.
ROM: Non-volatile, permanent storage used for firmware and system instructions.

6. What are the types of RAM?

Dynamic RAM (DRAM): Needs to be refreshed periodically.
Static RAM (SRAM): Does not need refreshing, faster and more reliable but more expensive.

7. What is cache memory?

Cache memory is a small, fast type of volatile memory used to store frequently accessed data to speed up processing.

8. What is the difference between SRAM and DRAM?

SRAM: Faster and does not require refreshing, but uses more power and is more expensive.
DRAM: Slower and needs to be refreshed but cheaper and more widely used.

9. What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory is a memory management technique that gives an application the impression it has contiguous memory, even though physical memory is fragmented.

10. What is the function of the memory controller?

A memory controller manages data flow between the CPU and the computer’s memory.

11. What is the difference between physical and logical memory?

Physical memory: Actual hardware components like RAM.
Logical memory: Memory managed by the operating system, including virtual memory.

12. What is EEPROM?

Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) is non-volatile memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.

13. What is a memory bus?

A memory bus is a communication pathway used to transfer data between the CPU, memory, and other components.

14. What is the size of a memory address?

The size of a memory address is typically determined by the width of the CPU's address bus (e.g., 32-bit or 64-bit).

15. What is a memory leak?

A memory leak occurs when a program continuously allocates memory without releasing it, leading to wasted memory resources.

16. What is the purpose of memory segmentation?

Memory segmentation is a memory management technique that divides memory into different segments, such as code, data, and stack segments.

17. What is the stack in memory?

The stack is a region of memory used for storing function calls, local variables, and control flow during program execution.

18. What is the heap in memory?

The heap is a region of memory used for dynamic memory allocation, where variables are stored during runtime.

19. What is the difference between stack and heap memory?

Stack: Automatically managed, smaller, used for function calls.
Heap: Manually managed, larger, used for dynamic memory allocation.

20. What is memory paging?

Memory paging is a memory management scheme that eliminates the need for contiguous allocation of physical memory, breaking it into fixed-size blocks called pages.

21. What is memory fragmentation?

Memory fragmentation occurs when free memory is split into small, non-contiguous blocks, leading to inefficient memory usage.

22. What is a memory dump?

A memory dump is a snapshot of the contents of memory at a particular point in time, often used for debugging.

23. What is the role of memory management unit (MMU)?

The MMU is responsible for translating virtual addresses into physical addresses, managing memory protection and access control.

24. What is DRAM refresh?

DRAM refresh is the process of periodically rewriting data to memory cells to prevent data loss due to charge leakage.

25. What is non-volatile memory?

Non-volatile memory retains data even when the system is powered off (e.g., ROM, flash memory).

26. What is the difference between cache and virtual memory?

Cache Memory: Faster, smaller memory used for frequently accessed data.
Virtual Memory: A portion of secondary memory used to simulate more RAM.

27. What is the role of the operating system in memory management?

The operating system manages the allocation, deallocation, and protection of memory resources for different applications.

28. What are the basic memory operations?

Read: Retrieving data from memory.
Write: Storing data into memory.
Erase: Removing data from memory.

29. What is the purpose of a memory cache in a CPU?

The CPU cache stores frequently used data to reduce the time it takes to access that data from main memory.

30. What is the function of the cache hit and miss?

Cache Hit: Data is found in the cache memory.
Cache Miss: Data is not found in the cache, requiring access to slower main memory.

31. What are the types of cache memory?

L1 Cache: Small and fast, located directly in the CPU.
L2 Cache: Larger, slower cache between the CPU and RAM.
L3 Cache: Even larger and slower cache shared by multiple CPU cores.

32. What is memory mapping?

Memory mapping is the process of converting a program’s logical address space into physical memory addresses.

33. What is the role of the BIOS in memory management?

The BIOS initializes and tests the system's memory during the boot-up process, ensuring everything is functioning correctly.

34. What is the purpose of memory alignment?

Memory alignment ensures that data is stored in memory at addresses that are multiples of the data size, improving performance.

35. What is a memory page fault?

A memory page fault occurs when a program accesses data that is not currently in physical memory, causing the operating system to load it from secondary storage.

36. What is the significance of cache coherence in multi-core systems?

Cache coherence ensures that all processors in a multi-core system have a consistent view of memory, preventing data inconsistencies.

37. What is a direct-mapped cache?

A direct-mapped cache maps each block of main memory to exactly one cache line, making it simple but potentially inefficient.

38. What is an associative cache?

An associative cache allows any block of memory to be placed in any cache line, which reduces conflicts but adds complexity.

39. What is a set-associative cache?

A set-associative cache is a compromise between direct-mapped and associative caches, where each memory block can be placed in a set of cache lines.

40. What is the write-through cache policy?

In a write-through cache policy, data is written to both the cache and the main memory at the same time.

41. What is the write-back cache policy?

In a write-back cache policy, data is written to the cache first and only written to the main memory when it is replaced.

42. What is memory interleaving?

Memory interleaving is a technique used to improve memory access speed by splitting data into multiple memory banks, allowing parallel access.

43. What is the significance of memory bus width?

The memory bus width determines how much data can be transferred between the CPU and memory at one time, affecting overall performance.

44. What is a memory leak in a program?

A memory leak happens when a program continuously allocates memory without releasing it, leading to decreased performance and system crashes.

45. What is the role of the CPU in memory management?

The CPU handles memory management by executing instructions and fetching data from memory based on addresses.

46. What is the function of page replacement algorithms?

Page replacement algorithms determine which pages to swap out of physical memory when a page fault occurs and memory is full.

47. What is the concept of "thrashing" in memory management?

Thrashing occurs when a system spends more time swapping data in and out of memory than executing instructions, severely degrading performance.

48. What is the role of a Memory Management Unit (MMU) in virtual memory?

The MMU handles the translation of virtual addresses to physical addresses and enforces memory protection.

49. What is the purpose of address space in memory?

Address space refers to the range of memory addresses that a program or process can access, either logically or physically.

50. What is the difference

between a 32-bit and 64-bit memory addressing?

A 64-bit memory addressing allows a computer to access significantly more memory than a 32-bit addressing system, supporting up to 18 exabytes of memory.