Method for manipulating disk partitions
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
- selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion;
modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and
locking the selected partition prior to said modifying step.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method allows non-destructive manipulation of disk partitions defined by an IBM-compatible partition table. The disk partitions may be located on one or more disks attached to one or more disk drives. Each partition has an associated file system type. An interrupted manipulation may be resumed at a point in the progress of the manipulation near the point of interruption. Available manipulations include verifying the integrity of a partition'"'"'s file system structures; displaying information about a partition; moving a partition to a different location; resizing a partition; and resizing the file system clusters. The resizing steps are illustrated with particular reference to file systems which use a file allocation table. The details required to perform these manipulations are attended to by an implementing program that requires only general direction from a user. Thus, the present invention provides a method that allows users who are unfamiliar with technical intricacies to easily manipulate IBM-compatible disk partitions, including extended partitions and logical partitions.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and locking the selected partition prior to said modifying step.
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2. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and rebooting after said modifying step.
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3. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein said modifying step comprises the step of converting cluster numbers of the selected partition to corresponding cluster numbers of the modified partition.
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4. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein said selecting step comprises selecting a logical partition from the partition table.
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5. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein said selecting step comprises selecting an extended partition from the partition table.
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6. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the root directory in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different root directory size than the selected partition without destroying user data.
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7. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and locking the selected partition prior to the modifying step.
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8. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and rebooting after the modifying step.
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9. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein the modifying step comprises the step of converting cluster numbers of the selected partition to corresponding cluster numbers of the modified partition.
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10. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein the selecting step comprises selecting a logical partition from the partition table.
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11. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein the selecting step comprises selecting an extended partition from the partition table.
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12. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the root directory in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different root directory size than the selected partition without destroying user data.
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13. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein said modifying step comprises the step of adjusting a file system structure. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein said modifying step comprises employing a data recovery method. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein the modifying step comprises the step of adjusting a file system structure. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; and modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to having a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data, wherein the modifying step comprises employing a data recovery method. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and verifying the integrity and consistency of internal file system data of the selected partition. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and verifying the integrity and consistency of internal file system data of the selected partition. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A computer-implemented method for manipulating disk partitions, comprising the steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and resizing the selected partition such that the modified partition has a different number of disk sectors than the selected partition. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a processor to perform a method for manipulating disk partitions, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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selecting an IBM-compatible partition located on a disk, the partition having a left edge and a right edge, the disk attached to a disk drive communicating with a source of electric power, the disk having at least one platter having a plurality of substantially concentric tracks, each track having a plurality of sectors arranged substantially in end-to-end fashion; modifying the selected partition to produce a modified partition by resizing the clusters in the selected partition to produce a modified partition having a different cluster size than the selected partition without destroying user data; and resizing the selected partition such that the modified partition has a different number of disk sectors than the selected partition. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification