Software and Hardware MCQs with Answers
Solved Software & Hardware MCQs with answers — System, Application, DBMS, Spreadsheet, Drivers & Machine Learning. Free quiz + PDF for PPSC, FPSC, NTS, CSS & PMS.
Software and Hardware — Master Reference for Pakistani Competitive Exams
The chapter Software and Hardware is one of the most repeated Computer Science topics in Pakistan’s PPSC, FPSC, NTS, CSS, PMS, OTS, CTS, BPSC, KPPSC and SPSC One Paper exams. Every Junior Clerk, Assistant, Sub-Inspector, Lecturer and BPS-14 to BPS-17 paper carries 2–4 MCQs from this chapter. This page consolidates solved MCQs with answers covering the hardware/software distinction, all software categories (system, application, general purpose, spreadsheet, graphic, multimedia, entertainment, reference, DBMS, virtual printer), key hardware facts, big-name companies (Microsoft, HP, Dell), and the three types of machine learning (Supervised, Unsupervised, Reinforcement).
Hardware vs Software
| Hardware | Software |
|---|---|
| Physical components of a computer system. | Collection of programs designed for a specific need. |
| Input, processing, output and auxiliary storage devices. | Three types: application, system and general purpose. |
| Examples: Keyboard, Mouse, Printer, CPU, RAM. | Examples: Operating system, MS Word, accounting software. |
Types of Software — Quick Reference
| Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| System Software | Controls and manages hardware. Includes OS, device drivers, compilers, disk formatters, text editors, utilities. | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Application Software | Performs specific user tasks beyond running the system. | MS Word, image viewer, browser |
| General Purpose | Used for a wide variety of tasks. | MS Office suite |
| Spreadsheet | Contains rows and columns for data calculation. | MS Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Corel Quattro Pro |
| Graphic Software | Used to draw pictures, 3D images and animations. | Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW |
| Multimedia Software | Creates visual presentations with audio and video. | Adobe Flash, MS PowerPoint |
| Entertainment Software | Designed for leisure and entertainment. | Windows Media Player |
| Reference Software | Emulates dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesaurus, atlas. | Encyclopedia Britannica |
| DBMS | Stores, manipulates and manages database structures. | Oracle, MySQL, MS Access |
| Virtual Printer | UI & API resemble a printer driver but output to a file. | PDF Creator, CutePDF |
Machine Learning — Three Types
| ML Type | Key Applications |
|---|---|
| Supervised Learning | Image Classification, Identity Fraud Detection, Diagnostics, Customer Retention, Advertising Popularity Prediction, Weather Forecasting, Regression, Market Forecasting, Population Growth Prediction, Estimating Life Expectancy |
| Unsupervised Learning | Big Data Visualisation, Dimensionality Reduction, Feature Elicitation, Structure Discovery, Meaningful Compression, Recommender Systems, Clustering, Targeted Marketing, Customer Segmentation |
| Reinforcement Learning | Real-time Decisions, Game AI, Robot Navigation, Skill Acquisition, Learning Tasks |
Key Facts to Memorise
- Hardware — Physical parts of the computer that we can see and touch.
- Software — Set of instructions that directs a computer’s hardware to perform a task; also called a programme or software programme.
- Beta — Conventional designation of pre-released software.
- Device driver — Software programme that controls a particular type of hardware device attached to a computer.
- Main types — System software and application software.
- Windows XP is NOT application software (it is an OS — system software).
- DBMS — Database Management Software; stores, manipulates and manages data, fields, records and file structures.
- Spreadsheet — Software that contains rows and columns (e.g. MS Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro).
- Graphic software — Used to draw pictures, 3D images and animation.
- Multimedia software — Creates visual presentations with audio/video. Adobe Flash & MS PowerPoint are multimedia software.
- Windows Media Player — Entertainment software.
- Microsoft — Biggest computer software company in the world.
- Virtual printer — Software whose UI & API resemble that of a printer driver.
- Reference software — Emulates dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, atlas. Encyclopedia is a classic example.
- Computer virus — Malicious software loaded onto a user’s computer without their knowledge.
- ‘Add new hardware’ option — Found in the Control Panel.
- Hard disk drive (HDD) — Non-volatile data storage device.
- Dell — A hardware company of computers.
- HP — The largest hardware company of computers.
- 3 Types of Machine Learning — Supervised, Unsupervised, Reinforcement.
Exam tip: Lock six anchors and you cover ~80% of all MCQs from this chapter — Hardware = physical, Software = programs, 2 main software types (System + Application), Spreadsheet = rows + columns (MS Excel), Microsoft = biggest software / HP = biggest hardware, Beta = pre-released designation, and 3 ML types (Supervised / Unsupervised / Reinforcement).
Frequently Asked Questions
Hardware = the physical components of a computer system you can see and touch (keyboard, mouse, printer, CPU, RAM). Software = a collection of programs designed for a specific need (operating system, MS Word, accounting software).
The two main types are system software (controls hardware — includes OS, device drivers, compilers, disk formatters, text editors and utilities) and application software (performs specific user tasks — e.g. MS Word, image viewer, browser). Software can also be classified into application, system and general purpose.
No. Windows XP is an operating system — it is system software, not application software.
A device driver is a software programme that controls a particular type of hardware device attached to a computer (e.g. a printer driver, graphics driver, network driver).
HP (Hewlett-Packard) is the largest hardware company of computers. Dell is another major hardware company. Microsoft is the biggest software company in the world.
(1) Supervised Learning — image classification, fraud detection, regression, weather forecasting; (2) Unsupervised Learning — clustering, customer segmentation, recommender systems, big-data visualisation; (3) Reinforcement Learning — game AI, robot navigation, real-time decisions, skill acquisition.
Yes — essential. Software and hardware concepts are tested in every One Paper, NTS NAT, GAT, OTS, CTS, BPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, PPSC and FPSC exam. Expect 2–4 MCQs from this chapter in any 100-mark paper.
Yes. Click the Download PDF button to get all Software and Hardware MCQs with correct answers as a branded QuizWing PDF for offline revision.