Module 4 challenge: Filesystems(Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User) Answers 2025

Question 1

What component of a disk tells the OS how the disk is partitioned?

✅ The partition table
❌ The swap table
❌ The master partition list
❌ The filesystems grid

🔹 Explanation:
The partition table stores information about how a disk is divided into partitions, allowing the operating system to identify where each file system begins and ends.

Question 2

What is the maximum volume size for an MBR partition?

❌ One terabyte
❌ 1024 megabytes
✅ Two terabytes
❌ Two gigabytes

🔹 Explanation:
The MBR (Master Boot Record) partitioning scheme uses 32-bit addressing, limiting maximum disk size to 2 TB. For larger disks, GPT (GUID Partition Table) is used.

Question 3

The Windows Disk Management Utility provides which of the following? Select all that apply.

✅ Information about a computer’s disks and disk partitions, as well as their file systems
❌ A command line interface
✅ Information about the free and total capacity of disks and partitions on a computer
✅ A utility to make modifications to the disk and partitions on a computer

🔹 Explanation:
The Disk Management Utility in Windows allows users to view disk info, create/delete partitions, and manage drive letters — all via a GUI, not CLI.

Question 4

In Linux, what information will be displayed about a computer’s disks when the sudo parted -l command is executed in the CLI? Select all that apply.

✅ The partition table types for each disk
❌ The security permissions for each partition
✅ The number of partitions on each of the computer’s disks
✅ The sizes of the disk partitions

🔹 Explanation:
The sudo parted -l command lists all available disks, their partition table types, partition counts, and sizes — but not permissions.

Question 5

Fill in the blank: Virtual memory dedicates an area of the hard drive to use a storage base for blocks of data called _____.

❌ databases
❌ base storage
✅ pages
❌ RAM

🔹 Explanation:
Virtual memory divides memory into pages, which are stored temporarily on the hard drive when physical RAM runs out — creating a swap space.

Question 6

In Linux, when running parted in interactive mode, what happens when you enter the command mkpart primary linux-swap 5GiB 100%? Select all that apply.

✅ You format a disk partition for swap space.
❌ You enable swap on the selected device.
❌ You mount a swap partition.
✅ You create a new disk partition.

🔹 Explanation:
The command creates a new partition and formats it for swap space between 5 GiB and the end of the disk. It doesn’t enable swap yet — you’d use mkswap and swapon for that.

Question 7

How does a shortcut link to another file?

❌ By referencing the other file’s name
❌ By referencing the other file’s reference number
❌ By referencing a copy of the other file
✅ By referencing the other file’s location on the hard drive

🔹 Explanation:
A shortcut (like in Windows) points to the path/location of the original file, not the file’s content or identifier. If the original file is moved or deleted, the shortcut breaks.

Question 8

How does a Linux hardlink link to another file? Select all that apply.

❌ By referencing a copy of the other file
❌ By referencing the other file’s name
❌ By referencing the other file’s physical location on the hard drive
✅ By referencing the other file’s inode

🔹 Explanation:
A hard link in Linux connects directly to a file’s inode (the actual data structure), so even if the original file is deleted, the hard link still works until all links are removed.

Question 9

Which features of Windows NTFS filesystem help minimize file corruption? Select all that apply.

❌ The fsck command
✅ The chkdsk /F command
✅ The NTFS log journaling process
✅ The fsutil self-healing utility

🔹 Explanation:
NTFS includes journaling (which logs metadata changes), self-healing, and the chkdsk /F tool to detect and repair disk errors — reducing file corruption risks.

Question 10

What must you do before trying to manually repair a file system with the fsck command?

❌ Run the chkdsk command.
❌ Reboot your computer.
❌ Make sure the file system is properly mounted.
✅ Make sure the file system is properly unmounted.

🔹 Explanation:
Before using fsck (File System Consistency Check), the file system must be unmounted to prevent damage from read/write conflicts during repair.

🧩 Summary:

Partition table defines disk structure.
MBR max volume = 2 TB, GPT supports larger disks.
Windows Disk Management allows viewing and editing partitions.
sudo parted -l shows Linux disk partition info.
Virtual memory uses pages on disk as RAM backup.
mkpart creates swap partitions but doesn’t activate them.
Shortcuts reference file locations; hard links reference inodes.
NTFS journaling, chkdsk, and self-healing help prevent corruption.
Use fsck only when a file system is unmounted.