Apparatus, method and program product for selectively starting one of a plurality of operating systems and secondary storage according to whether or not a predetermined peripheral is connected to the system

• US 7,328,333 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 02/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kawano, Seiichi, Olyha, Robert Stephen Jr., Ocheltree, Kenneth Blair
• Primary Examiner(s): CONNOLLY, MARK A
• Application Number:
  US10/304,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20030110331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2, 713/300, 713/320
• US Class Current: 713/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/24 Resetting means

Abstract

A computer system which includes a CPU for performing various processes by program control and storage elements which store at least one operating system and a BIOS, wherein upon starting a system, the CPU recognizes the system'"'"'s own hardware configuration, and starts a selected one operating system stored in the storage elements in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration under the control of the BIOS.

Claims

1. A portable computing device, comprising:

computer data storage elements in the portable computing device which store a BIOS and a plurality of operating systems; and

a CPU operatively communicating with said storage elements;

said storage elements and said CPU cooperating in execution of the BIOS in such a manner that, upon starting the apparatus, said CPU under the control of the BIOS recognizes the configuration of any associated hardware selects a first operating system in the plurality of operating systems and powers a secondary storage on when the portable computing device is recognized as being coupled to a docking station and selects a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the portable computing device is recognized as being used as a stand-alone device.

2. The portable computing device of claim 1 being a personal digital assistant.

3. The portable computing device of claim 1, wherein the CPU under the control of the BIOS is configured to recognize the configuration of any associated hardware and start a selected one operating system stored in said storage elements in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration upon initiating the portable computing device from a standby state.

4. The portable computing device of claim 1, wherein, if the first operating system is selected, at least a portion of the second operating system is stored in a non-volatile sleeping memory.

5. A method of controlling a computer comprising the steps of:

recognizing the hardware configuration of the computer as the computer starts up; and

starting a first operating system of a plurality of operating systems stored the computer and powering a secondary storage on when the computer is recognized as being coupled to a clocking station or starting a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the computer is recognized as being used as a stand-alone device, and wherein said step of recognizing a hardware configuration comprises a step of acquiring a device ID from a predetermined peripheral device, and said step of starting first or second operating system comprises a step of determining which operating system to start in accordance with said acquired device ID.

6. The method of claim 5, where the computer is a personal digital assistant.

7. A program product comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on said medium and effective when executing to control the startup of a portable computer, said program instructions causing the portable computer to perform the processes of;

recognizing the portable computer'"'"'s hardware configuration as the portable computer starts up; and

selectively starting a first operating system of a plurality of operating systems stored in the portable computer and powering a secondary storage on when the portable computing device is coupled to a docking station or a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the portable computing device is used as a stand-alone device.

8. A program product comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on said medium and effective when executing to control the startup of a computer system, said program instructions causing the computer to perform the processes of;

recognizing a system'"'"'s hardware configuration as the system starts up; and

selectively starting one of a plurality of operating systems in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration, and wherein said process of starting up an operating system comprises the processes of;

determining which operating system should be started according to whether a predetermined peripheral device is connected to its own system;

if said peripheral device is connected, powering a secondary storage on and starting the determined operating system;

if said peripheral device is not connected, starting the determined operating system without powering said storage on.

9. A computing device, comprising:

computer data storage elements in the computing device which store a BIOS and a plurality of operating systems; and

a CPU operatively communicating with said storage elements;

said storage elements and said CPU cooperating in execution of the BIOS in such a maimer that, upon starting the apparatus, said CPU under the control of the BIOS performs the following operations;

recognizes a hardware configuration of the computing device as the computing device starts up;

selectively starts one of the plurality of operating systems in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration and wherein said process of starting up an operating system comprises the acts of;

determining which operating system should be started according to whether a predetermined peripheral device is connected to its own system;

if said peripheral device is connected, powering a secondary storage on and starling, the determined operating system;

if said peripheral device is now connected, starting the determined operating system without powering said storage on.