QUESTION 10:
What component of a computer system holds the operating system when the computer is not running?
Yes--the operating system is running. Mostly it is managing the user interface, waiting for some input to tell it what to do.
The operating system is a complex collection of many programs concerned with keeping the hardware and software components of a computer system coordinated and functioning. It is like a shop keeper who keeps a shop in order by attending to customers, handling supplier deliveries, stocking the shelves, doing the bookkeeping, and so on.
The operating system is software; the same hardware can be used with many different operating systems (although only one at a time.) Sometimes the operating system on a computer becomes corrupted (perhaps because of a computer virus) and must be tediously re-installed. Until it is up and running again, other programs will not be available.
What component of a computer system holds the operating system when the computer is not running?