Operating system independent system for running utility programs in a defined environment

• US 6,192,471 B1
• Filed: 01/26/1996
• Issued: 02/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell USA LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell USA LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Overfield, Anthony L., Pearce, John J.
• Primary Examiner(s): COURTENAY III, ST JOHN
• Application Number:
  US08/592,504
• Time in Patent Office: 1,852 Days
• Field of Search: 395/680, 395/681, 395/683, 395/682, 395/186, 709/300, 709/301, 709/303, 709/302, 709/100-108, 709/310-332, 710/200, 710/220, 710/240, 713/1, 713/2, 713/100
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4406 Loading of operating system

Abstract

A system which builds an operating system-independent environment for executing utility programs is created by establishing a virtual drive that resides on a physical disk drive within the native file system of a native operating system. A virtual drive is a set of files on a physical disk drive that is configured to emulate a physical disk drive. The virtual drive can be deleted by a computer user and similarly can be re-established by the computer user. The virtual drive is bootable and activates an operating system that makes all system resources accessible to the utility programs and also allows the computer user to use the disk space that is allocated for the virtual drive, if desired.

Claims

1. A method of executing a utility program on a computer system comprising:

operating in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource;

receiving a request to perform a utility program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction;

in response to the request, executing the requested utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment including;

reserving a region of a native file system for usage as a virtual resource;

executing a virtual resource reboot command that designates the virtual resource in the reserved region of the native file system as a bootstrap device;

invoking an interceptor in response to the reboot command, the interceptor relating a location on the virtual resource to a location in the native file system;

executing the utility program, the utility program generating accesses to the virtual resource; and

intercepting accesses to the virtual resource and directing a resource access location to a native file system location so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions imposed by the computing environment.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein:

the reserved region of the native file system is a contiguous region.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein:

the reserved region of the native file system is a non-contiguous region.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reserving act includes:

writing a contiguous file to the native operating system.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reserving act includes:

writing a non-contiguous file to the native operating system.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the region reserving act further includes:

creating a logical file system in a native file system on a physical resource for usage as a virtual;

finding a location of the logical file system on the physical resource;

installing a partition sector in the logical file system;

formatting the logical file system; and

copying selected utilities into the partitioned and formatted logical file system.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the region reserving act further includes:

creating a file in a logical file system which defines record formats within a physical file system;

searching the physical file system for locations of the logical file system; and

recording a record sector number, a record cylinder number and a location of a next record of a location of a non-contiguous region.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein:

the resource accesses are intercepted by incrementing a cylinder of the physical resource by a preselected cylinder offset.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein:

the resource accesses are intercepted using a Terminate and Stay Ready (TSR) program including;

loading a TSR program from the physical resource so that the TSR program is interposed between a BIOS operating system and a program calling the resource accesses; and

operable by the TSR program, determining a position in the physical resource for accessing a data location in the virtual resource.

10. A method according to claim 1 wherein:

the resource accesses are intercepted in a System Management Mode (SMM) using a System Management Interrupt (SMI) including;

setting up parameters for performing resource accesses in a resource controller;

commanding the resource controller to initiate the resource access;

trapping a resource access with an SMI;

responsive to the SMI, accessing the parameters from the resource controller; and

converting a physical resource address to a virtual resource address using the accessed parameters.

11. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reboot command executing act further includes:

setting a flag in a non-volatile memory activating resource accesses to the virtual resource;

bootstrapping the computer system including initializing a disk controller; and

conditioning the interceptor to intercept the disk accesses.

12. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reboot command executing act further includes:

entering a reboot command; and

executing an entered reboot command including;

initializing computer system hardware;

determining whether a reboot operating system is operating from the virtual resource; and

activating the interceptor.

13. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 1.

14. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 1.

15. A method according to claim 7 further comprising:

installing a partition sector in the logical file system;

formating the logical file system; and

copying selected utilities into the partitioned and formatted virtual resource.

16. A method according to claim 11 wherein the bootstrapping act is a warm and/or cold bootstrapping act further including:

depressing two mouse buttons simultaneously during the bootstrap operation; and

executing an entered reboot command including;

initializing computer system hardware;

determining whether a reboot operating system is operating from the virtual resource; and

activating the interceptor.

17. A method of executing a utility program on a computer system comprising:

operating in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource;

receiving a request to perform a utility program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction;

in response to the request, executing the requested utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment including;

reserving a region of a physical resource for usage as a virtual resource;

bootstrap loading an operating system which designates the virtual resource in the reserved region of the native file system as a bootstrap device;

executing the utility program, the utility program generating resource accesses to the virtual resource; and

intercepting the resource accesses to the virtual resource and directing a resource access location to a corresponding physical resource location so that the restricted-access resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions imposed on the resource by the computing environment.

18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the region reserving act further includes:

creating a logical file system in a native file system on a physical resource for usage as a virtual resource;

finding a location of the logical file system on the physical resource;

installing a partition sector in the logical file system;

formatting the logical file system; and

copying selected utilities into the partitioned and formatted logical file system.

19. A method according to claim 17 wherein the act of reserving the region further includes:

creating a logical file system which defines record formats on the physical resource;

searching the physical resource for locations of the logical file system; and

recording a record sector number and a location of a next record of a location of a non-contiguous region of the physical resource.

20. A method according to claim 17 wherein:

the intercepting act intercepts resource accesses by incrementing a cylinder of the physical resource by a preselected cylinder offset.

21. A method according to claim 17 wherein:

the intercepting act intercepts resource accesses using a Terminate and Stay Ready (TSR) program including;

loading a TSR program from the physical resource so that the TSR program is interposed between a BIOS operating system and a program calling the resource accesses; and

operable by the TSR program, determining a position in the physical resource for accessing a data location in the virtual resource.

22. A method according to claim 17 wherein:

the intercepting act intercepts resource accesses in a System Management Mode (SMM) using a System Management Interrupt (SMI) including;

setting up parameters for performing resource accesses in a resource controller;

commanding the resource controller to initiate the resource access;

trapping a resource access with an SMI;

responsive to the SMI, accessing the parameters from the resource controller; and

converting a physical resource address to a virtual resource address using the accessed parameters.

23. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 17.

24. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 17.

25. A method according to claim 19 further comprising:

installing a partition sector in the logical file system;

formatting the logical file system; and

copying selected utilities into the partitioned and formatted virtual resource.

26. A computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein for operating on a computer system having a processor, a memory and a hard disk drive, the computable readable code comprising:

a utility activation routine operational in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource, the utility activation routine being invoked by a request to perform a utility program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction; and

an operating system independent utility execution routine that executes the requested utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment, the operating system independent utility execution routine including;

a virtual drive reservation routine responsive to the utility activation routine, the virtual drive reservation routine reserving a region of the hard disk drive as a virtual disk drive;

an interceptor which intercepts a disk access directed to a location on the virtual disk drive in the reserved region of the native file system and directs the disk access to a corresponding location on the physical disk drive;

a reboot command that activates the virtual disk drive as a bootstrap device; and

a bootstrap routine responsive to the reboot command by invoking the interceptor;

a utility routine operational to generate disk accesses to the virtual disk drive so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions to the resource imposed by the computing environment.

27. A computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein for operating on a computer system having a processor, a memory and a hard disk drive, the computable readable code comprising:

means for operating in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource; and

means for executing the requested utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment including;

means for receiving a request to perform a utility program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction;

means responsive to receipt of a request for reserving a region of the hard disk drive as a virtual disk drive;

means for intercepting a disk access directed to a location on the virtual disk drive in the reserved region of the native file system and directing the disk access to a corresponding location on the physical disk drive;

means for requesting the virtual disk drive as a bootstrap device;

means for executing the utility program, the utility program generating disk accesses to the virtual disk drive; and

means responsive to the requesting means for invoking the intercepting means to intercept disk accesses to the virtual disk drive and direct a disk access location to a native file system location so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions imposed by the computing environment.

30. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 27.

28. A computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein for operating on a computer system having a processor, a memory and a physical resource, the computable readable code comprising:

a utility activation routine operational in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource, the utility activation routine being invoked by a request to perform a utility program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction; and

an operating system independent utility execution routine that executes the requested utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment, the operating system independent utility execution routine including;

a virtual resource reservation routine responsive to the utility activation routine, the virtual resource reservation routine reserving a region of the physical resource as a virtual resource;

an interceptor which is invoked by a virtual resource bootstrap and intercepts a resource access directed to a location on the virtual resource in the reserved region of the native file system and directs the resource access to a corresponding location on the physical resource; and

a utility routine operational to generate resource accesses to the virtual resource, so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions to the resource imposed by the computing environment.

29. A method of operating a computer system having a processor, a memory and a hard disk drive comprising:

activating a utility program operational in a computing environment that restricts access to a resource, the utility program being a program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restriction; and

executing the activated utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment including;

reserving a region of the hard disk drive as a virtual resource;

intercepting a resource access directed to a location on the virtual resource and directing the resource access to a corresponding location on the hard disk drive; and

generating resource accesses to the virtual resource via the utility routine so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions to the resource imposed by the computing environment.

31. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 29.

32. A computer system for building an operating system-independent environment for executing utility programs comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a hard disk drive coupled to the processor;

a native operating system controlling the processor and controlling accessing of the memory and hard disk drive by the processor, control of accessing of the memory and the hard disk drive including prohibiting access;

a native file system defined in accordance with the native operating system;

a utility program operational in the native operating system that controls access to the memory and the hard disk drive, the utility program being a program that attempts to access the memory and hard disk drive contrary to the prohibition of access imposed by the native operating system; and

a routine for establishing a virtual drive within the native file system, the utility program generating resource accesses to the virtual drive so that the restricted-access resource is accessed bypassing the access restrictions to the resource imposed by the native operating system independent of the particular native operating system.

33. A method of operating a computer system having a processor, a memory and a hard disk drive comprising:

establishing a native file system in accordance with a native operating system that restricts access to a resource;

activating a utility program operational in the native operating system, the utility program being a program that attempts to access the resource in a manner that violates the access restrictions imposed by the native operating system; and

executing the activated utility program bypassing the restrictions imposed by the computing environment independent of the particular computing environment including;

establishing a virtual drive within the native file system, the utility program generating resource accesses to the virtual drive so that the resource subject to the access restriction is accessed despite the access restrictions to the resource imposed by the native operating system.

34. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 33.

35. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a computable readable code embodied therein implementing the method according to claim 33.