Operating system and data protection
First Claim
1. A method of accessing data in locations of a memory in a computer system, the method comprising:
- receiving a write access command addressed to a first location;
determining whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location;
if said first location is identified as protected, determining a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system;
directing the write access command to said second location;
receiving a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and
directing said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The disclosed systems and methods provide for the protection of protected memory, for example, a hard disk, in a computer system. The systems and methods are configured to re-direct read and write access commands from locations in the protected memory to alternative storage locations. The systems and methods provide the ability for the user to accept or reject any BIOS changes that are to be made to the computing system. In addition, the systems and methods protect against operating system crash due to missing or corrupted files. The systems and methods are additionally operable to recover mistakenly deleted or damaged application data from a hard disk level, as well as to protect the operating system and data of the computing system against virus penetration. In other embodiments, the systems and methods are operable to provide for a security lock to the computing system and its associated data.
20 Citations
58 Claims
-
1. A method of accessing data in locations of a memory in a computer system, the method comprising:
-
receiving a write access command addressed to a first location; determining whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determining a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; directing the write access command to said second location; receiving a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and directing said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A computer system for accessing data in locations of a memory in a computer system, the computer system comprising:
a driver configured to; receive a write access command addressed to a first location; determine whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determine a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; direct the write access command to said second location; receive a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and direct said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
27. A method of accessing and recovering data in locations of a memory in a computer system, the method comprising:
-
receiving a write access command addressed to a first location; determining whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determining a new location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; directing the write access command to said new location; receiving a read access command addressed to said first location; directing the read access command to said new location; and recovering to a restore point that includes said first location; after said recovering, directing read access commands addressed to said first location to said first location. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A method of accessing data in memory locations in a computer system, the method comprising:
-
receiving a password from a user of said computer system; if said password is validated, enabling said computer system to access said memory locations, including; receiving a write access command addressed to a first location; determining whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determining a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; directing the write access command to said second location; receiving a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and directing said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
-
-
38. A computer system, comprising:
-
at least one disk drive, wherein said at least one disk drive includes protected and non-protected memory locations, wherein protected memory locations cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory locations, and wherein non-protected memory locations can be overwritten by said computer system; a device driver configured to intercept accesses to said memory subsystem, determine whether said accesses are write access to protected memory locations, and direct said write accesses to protected memory locations to non-protected memory locations. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
-
50. A computer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable by a processor to:
-
receive a write access command addressed to a first memory location of a computer system; determine whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determine a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; direct the write access command to said second location; receive a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and direct said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected.
-
-
51. A method for performing data protection in a computer system, comprising:
-
scanning one or more disk drives of said computer system, wherein said one or more disk drives include protected and non-protected memory locations, wherein protected memory locations cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory locations, and wherein non-protected memory locations can be overwritten by said computer system; using information about said one or more disk drives obtained from said scanning to create a data structure including information regarding whether memory locations in said one or more disk drives are protected or non-protected; receiving a write access to said one or more disk drives, wherein said write access is received by a device driver that is transparent to an operating system of said computer system; said device driver determining whether said received write access is to a protected memory location, wherein said determining includes referencing said data structure; if said received write access is to a protected memory location, directing said write access to a non-protected memory location. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
56. A computer system comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory including program instructions executable to; receive a write access command addressed to a first location; determine whether said first location is identified as protected, wherein a memory location that is protected cannot be overwritten by said computer system without intervention by a user of the computer system to unprotect the memory location; if said first location is identified as protected, determine a second location that is identified as not protected, wherein a memory location that is not protected can be overwritten by said computer system; direct the write access command to said second location; receive a subsequent write access command addressed to said first location; and direct said subsequent write access command to a third location that is identified as not protected. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58)
-
Specification