Mechanism for intuitively invoking one or more auxiliary programs during a computer booting process
First Claim
1. In a computer comprising a basic input-output system (BIOS), one or more auxiliary programs, and an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, a method for booting the computer, comprising:
- executing the BIOS;
executing one or more of the auxiliary programs, wherein control is transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs;
saving, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, a set of environmental settings that define a current environment for the computer;
determining by the one or more of the auxiliary programs whether to continue booting the computer;
in response to a determination not to continue booting the computer, continuing to execute the one or more of the auxiliary programs without executing the operating system;
in response to a determination to continue booting the computer, performing the steps of;
(a) restoring, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, the set of environmental settings;
(b) terminating execution of the one or more auxiliary programs; and
(c) executing the operating system, wherein control is transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the operating system without rebooting the computer.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a computer booting process, a basic input-output system (BIOS) causes one or more auxiliary programs to be automatically executed. By doing so, the BIOS transfers control of the booting process to the auxiliary programs. Thereafter, it is up to the auxiliary programs to determine whether to continue execution, or to proceed with the booting process. Should the auxiliary programs determine that execution of the auxiliary programs should continue, the booting process is halted and the operating system is not loaded or executed. To determine whether execution of the auxiliary programs should continue, the auxiliary programs monitor for any user input. If any user input is received, unless the user input specifically indicates that execution of the auxiliary programs should not continue, the auxiliary programs will continue execution. Thus, the default is to continue execution of the auxiliary programs. This makes invocation of the auxiliary programs much more intuitive, convenient, and seamless for the user than in the prior art.
48 Citations
54 Claims
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1. In a computer comprising a basic input-output system (BIOS), one or more auxiliary programs, and an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, a method for booting the computer, comprising:
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executing the BIOS; executing one or more of the auxiliary programs, wherein control is transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs; saving, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, a set of environmental settings that define a current environment for the computer; determining by the one or more of the auxiliary programs whether to continue booting the computer; in response to a determination not to continue booting the computer, continuing to execute the one or more of the auxiliary programs without executing the operating system; in response to a determination to continue booting the computer, performing the steps of; (a) restoring, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, the set of environmental settings; (b) terminating execution of the one or more auxiliary programs; and (c) executing the operating system, wherein control is transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the operating system without rebooting the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer, comprising:
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one or more processors; a basic input-output system (BIOS); one or more auxiliary programs; an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, wherein the BIOS comprises; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute, during a booting process, one or more of the auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs without rebooting the computer, and wherein the one or more auxiliary programs comprise; (a) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to save a set of environmental settings that define a current environment for the computer; (b) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine whether to continue the booting process; (c) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to continue executing the one or more of the auxiliary programs without executing the operating system, in response to a determination not to continue the booting process; (d) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to restore the set of environment settings; and (e) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute the operating system, thereby causing control to be transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the operating system without rebooting the computer. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer readable medium, comprising:
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a basic input-output system (BIOS); and one or more auxiliary programs, wherein the BIOS comprises; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to execute, during a booting process, one or more of the auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs without rebooting, and wherein the one or more auxiliary programs comprise; (a) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to save a set of environmental settings that define a current environment for a computer; (b) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine whether to continue the booting process; (c) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to continue executing the one or more of the auxiliary programs without executing an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, in response to a determination not to continue the booting process; (d) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to restore the set of environment settings; and (e) one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute the operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the operating system without rebooting. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. In a computer comprising a basic input-output system (BIOS), one or more auxiliary programs, and an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, a method for booting the computer, comprising:
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executing the BIOS; saving, by the BIOS, a subset of a set of environmental settings, wherein the environmental settings define a current environment for the computer; executing one or more of the auxiliary programs, wherein control is transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs; saving, by one or more of the auxiliary programs, a remainder of the set of environmental settings; restoring, by one or more of the auxiliary programs, the remainder of the set of environmental settings; executing the BIOS, wherein control is transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the BIOS; restoring, by the BIOS, the subset of the set of environmental settings; and executing the operating system, wherein control is transferred from the BIOS to the operating system.
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53. A computer, comprising:
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one or more processors; a basic input-output system (BIOS); one or more auxiliary programs; and an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs; wherein the BIOS comprises; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to save a subset of a set of environmental settings, wherein the environmental settings define a current environment for the computer; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute one or more of the auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred to one or more of the auxiliary programs; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to restore the subset of environmental settings, wherein the subset of environmental settings is restored after the BIOS regains control from the one or more auxiliary programs; and one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute the operating system, thereby causing control to be transferred to the operating system; and wherein the one or more auxiliary programs comprise; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to save a remainder of the set of environmental settings; one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to restore the remainder of the set of environmental settings; and one or more instructions for causing the one or more processors to execute the BIOS, thereby causing control to be transferred back to the BIOS.
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54. A computer readable medium, comprising:
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a basic input-output system (BIOS); and one or more auxiliary programs; wherein the BIOS comprises; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to save a subset of a set of environmental settings, wherein the environmental settings define a current environment for a computer in which the computer readable medium resides; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to execute one or more of the auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred to one or more of the auxiliary programs; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to restore the subset of environmental settings, wherein the subset of environmental settings is restored after the BIOS regains control from the one or more auxiliary programs; and one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to execute an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, thereby causing control to be transferred to the operating system; and wherein the one or more auxiliary programs comprise; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to save a remainder of the set of environmental settings; one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to restore the remainder of the set of environmental settings; and one or more instructions for causing one or more processors to execute the BIOS, thereby causing control to be transferred back to the BIOS.
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Specification