Method of booting a computer operating system to run from a normally unsupported system device
First Claim
1. A method of booting a computer operating system to run from a disk drive device that is not normally supported as a boot or system device by the computer ROMBIOS, comprising:
- loading and initializing an operating system kernel from a natively supported boot device;
after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing a device driver for a normally unsupported system device (NUSD);
after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing a bootswap device driver operative to alter at least one operating system data structure other than changing a drive designator such that said NUSD is recognized by the operating system as a system device; and
running said operating system from said NUSD.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer operating system (OS) is altered to boot so as to run from a normally unsupported system device (NUSD). The OS kernel is loaded from a natively supported boot device, such as a floppy disk or CD-ROM, and initialized. Device drivers for a NUSD are then loaded from the boot device and initialized. A bootswap device driver is also loaded and initialized. The bootswap device driver is operative to alter an OS data structure such that the NUSD is recognized as a system device. Upon completion of the boot sequence, the OS runs from the NUSD as a system drive. A method of preparing the boot media and configuring the NUSD is presented.
29 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of booting a computer operating system to run from a disk drive device that is not normally supported as a boot or system device by the computer ROMBIOS, comprising:
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loading and initializing an operating system kernel from a natively supported boot device; after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing a device driver for a normally unsupported system device (NUSD); after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing a bootswap device driver operative to alter at least one operating system data structure other than changing a drive designator such that said NUSD is recognized by the operating system as a system device; and running said operating system from said NUSD. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of computer disaster recovery, comprising:
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prior to loss of use of a computer system drive, copying original operating system executable and configuration files to a normally unsupported system device (NUSD); and creating a bootable medium for a device natively supported as a boot device, said medium including a bootswap device driver operative to update an operating system in-memory data structure, other than changing a drive designator, to recognize said NUSD as a system device; and following loss of use of said system drive, loading and initializing an operating system kernel from said medium; and after loading said operating system kernel, upon loading and initializing said bootswap device driver, completing the boot sequence and running said operating system from said NUSD. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of computer disaster recovery, comprising:
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prior to loss of use of a computer system drive, copying operating system executable and configuration files to a normally unsupported system device (NUSD); storing disk identification information for said NUSD in said operating system configuration files on said NUSD; copying to said NUSD a bootswap device driver operative to retrieve said disk identification information and update an operating system in-memory data structure, other than changing a drive designator, to recognize said NUSD as a system device; altering said operating system files to mark device drivers for said NUSD and said bootswap device driver as boot drivers; and copying a subset of operating system executable and configuration files from said NUSD to a disk natively supported by said computer as a boot device; and following loss of use of said system drive, loading and initializing an operating system kernel from said disk natively supported by said computer as a boot device; after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing said bootswap device driver; and running said computer from said NUSD.
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18. A bootable computer readable medium including operating system files operative to cause a computer to perform the following steps during booting:
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loading and initializing an operating system kernel; after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing device drivers for a normally unsupported system device (NUSD); after loading said operating system kernel, loading and initializing a bootswap device driver operative to alter at least one operating system data structure, other than changing a drive designator, such that said NUSD is recognized by said operating system as a system device; and running said operating system from said NUSD. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method of booting a computer operating system to run from a disk drive device that is not natively supported as a boot device by a computer, comprising:
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loading and initializing a device driver for a normally unsupported system device (NUSD) from a natively supported boot device; loading configuration information from a natively supported boot device; loading and initializing a protected-mode operating system kernel from a natively supported boot device, said kernel operative to alter an in-memory data structure based on said configuration information, such that said NUSD is recognized by said operating system as a system device; and using said device driver to run said operating system from said NUSD. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification