Method and apparatus for diagnosis and repair of computer devices and device drivers
First Claim
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1. A method for diagnosing and repairing devices connected to a computer and interfaced to the computer by each device'"'"'s driver software, comprising the steps of:
- enumerating the devices connected to the computer;
detecting whether any device has an error;
selecting the type of repair to perform on a device from a software repair directed to the device'"'"'s driver or a hardware repair of the device itself or its connections; and
attempting to perform the selected repair.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for diagnosing and repairing hardware and software problems relating to computer peripheral devices and their software drivers. The method and apparatus enumerate the devices, identify devices having errors, detect replacement software drivers and then un-install possibly defective software drivers so that they may be replaced automatically by the operating system, run hardware tests and attempt repairs on hardware devices.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for diagnosing and repairing devices connected to a computer and interfaced to the computer by each device'"'"'s driver software, comprising the steps of:
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enumerating the devices connected to the computer;
detecting whether any device has an error;
selecting the type of repair to perform on a device from a software repair directed to the device'"'"'s driver or a hardware repair of the device itself or its connections; and
attempting to perform the selected repair. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for diagnosing and repairing devices connected to a computer and interfaced to the computer by each device'"'"'s driver software, comprising the steps of:
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enumerating the devices connected to a user'"'"'s system, and testing at least some of the enumerated devices for errors;
if errors are found, attempting to repair at least some of the devices for which an error has been found by running a software repair on the device'"'"'s driver software, and then re-testing the devices subjected to the software repair; and
if errors are still found, attempting to repair at least some of the devices for which an error has still been found by running a hardware repair on the devices. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for diagnosing and repairing devices installed within or attached to a user'"'"'s computer system and also driver software for such devices, comprising:
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the user'"'"'s computer system having an operating system;
at least one device connected to the user'"'"'s computer system and interfaced to the operating system by device driver software to convey information between the device and the operating system;
a device repair system connected to the user'"'"'s computer system, the device repair system comprising;
an error detector arranged to detect errors relating to the devices and their driver software, a software repairer arranged to repair device driver software, a hardware repairer arranged to repair the devices, and a user interface enabling a use of the user'"'"'s system to control and direct the error detection and repair process. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device and device driver software repairer, comprising:
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enumerator means for identifying the devices connected to a computer system;
device tester means for identifying device errors by determining if devices are working properly;
software repairer means for correcting software device driver errors; and
hardware repairer means for correcting hardware device errors. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification