A process ends when its program closes or finishes.
Describe how the operating system terminates a process.
Mark scheme
Award up to two marks for a linked description such as:
- Frees/releases the memory/RAM used by the process (1) so other processes can use it (1)
- Removes the process from the ready queue/scheduler (1) so it is no longer selected to run on the CPU (1)
- Releases other resources (files/peripherals) held by the process (1) so they can be used by other processes (1)
- Removes/updates the process entry in the process table (1) to show the process is no longer running (1)
Allow 'process queue' / 'queue of processes' for ready queue/scheduler.
Allow 'program' for process.
Do not accept responses that only restate that the process/program has ended/closed.
Do not accept responses that only say the process stops running / the computer stops using the program, with no linked description.
Do not accept responses that say the program/file is deleted from storage or that the user closed/deleted the program.
Example answers and how they were marked
It frees the memory the process was using so other processes can use it.
Why: Frees memory (1) linked to other processes using it (1).
It removes the process from the queue.
Why: One creditworthy point about removing from the queue (1), but no linked development.
It deletes the program from the hard drive.
Why: Terminating a process does not delete the program file; no creditworthy point.