Method of operating a data processing system
First Claim
1. A method of operating a microprocessor-based data processing system including a random access memory, a central processing unit and a non-volatile storage device, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing first instructions sorted in the memory to the central processing unit to cause the central processing unit to write data periodically to basic storage means forming at least part of the storage device, andfor a plurality of such first write operations, instructing the central processing unit to execute a plurality of corresponding backup write operations to write the same data to backup storage means, each said backup write operation being performed by a second sequence of instructions stored in said memory, and said second sequence of instructions being associated with said first write operations for writing data to the basic storage means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating a data processing system, in particular a micro-computer, comprises a backup process in which a copy of every change made to a storage medium is recorded as the change occurs. Write operations for writing data to the storage medium are each preceded by a backup write operation to backup storage means, successive backup write operations being controlled so as to be stored as a sequential list in the backup storage means in the form of location blocks and data blocks to avoid the overwriting occurring in the storage medium. These backup write operations are executed at the level of the basic input/output system (BIOS) of the microcomputer in such a manner that normal use of the computer is unaffected. The method also includes a restore process in which bad sectors of a destination storage device are avoided by translating the file allocation table (FAT) and directories of the original data.
290 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of operating a microprocessor-based data processing system including a random access memory, a central processing unit and a non-volatile storage device, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing first instructions sorted in the memory to the central processing unit to cause the central processing unit to write data periodically to basic storage means forming at least part of the storage device, and for a plurality of such first write operations, instructing the central processing unit to execute a plurality of corresponding backup write operations to write the same data to backup storage means, each said backup write operation being performed by a second sequence of instructions stored in said memory, and said second sequence of instructions being associated with said first write operations for writing data to the basic storage means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of operating a data processing device comprising the steps of:
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providing backup storage means for storing as a sequential list write operations written to basic storage means, each write operation being stored in the backup storage means as a location element and a data element with the location element containing information relating to the location of the data element when stored in the basic storage means, determining the location of faulty parts of a destination storage means, and establishing a translation table for allocating to the data element new location elements in place of the stored location elements for restoring the data elements to correctly functioning parts of the destination storage means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. In a microprocessor-based data processing system comprising a random access memory, a central processing unit, and a non-volatile storage device, a method of providing a backup for data written to the non-volatile storage device, wherein the method includes the steps of:
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performing, for each write operation in which data is written to basic storage means forming at least part of said storage device, a backup write operation in which said data is also written as a data block to backup storage means together with a location block containing information relating to the location of said data when stored in the basic storage means, and storing the backup write operations for successive write operations to said basic storage means in the backup storage means as a sequential list of location and data block pairs stored in different respective locations of the backup storage means, each said backup write operation being performed by a first sequence of instructions which are stored in said random access memory and are associated with a second sequence of instructions for executing said write operations for writing data to the basic storage means. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. An improved microprocessor-based data processing system comprising a random access memory, a central processing unit, a non-volatile basic storage means, and non-volatile backup storage means, wherein the improvement comprises:
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means for performing a backup write step corresponding to each write operation in which data is written to said basic storage means, said backup write steps comprising the writing of said write operation to the backup storage means as a location block and a data block, the location block containing information relating to the location of the data block in said basic storage means, and means for writing successive said write operations to said backup storage means as a sequential list, each location and data block pair being stored in a different respective location in the backup storage means, the backup write step being performed by a first sequence of instructions stored in said memory and associated with a second sequence of instructions for executing said write operation in which data is written to said basic storage means. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification