System Software, Architecture, Memory and Storage Practice Test

The major OS process lifecycle states describe how a process moves from creation to completion. At creation, a process is in New, not yet eligible to run. Once admitted to memory and the ready queue, it enters Ready, meaning it's prepared to run but waiting for the CPU. When the scheduler assigns a CPU, it moves into Running, where it actually executes. If the process needs to wait for something (like I/O), it becomes Blocked or Waiting, so it won’t use CPU until the event completes. When the awaited event finishes, it becomes Ready again to be scheduled, and the cycle can continue. Finally, when the process finishes or is terminated, it enters Terminated, and the OS cleans up resources.

This sequence—New, Ready, Running, Blocked/Waiting, Terminated—is the standard set that captures creation, waiting for CPU, actual execution, waiting on events, and clean termination. Other options use nonstandard terms or omit a stage, which is why they don’t fit as neatly.