Data processing recovery system and method spanning multiple operating system

• US 7,689,861 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2008
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United Microelectronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Xpoint Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Messerli, Donald, Wang, Frank C., Kelly, Dennis E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Dieu-Minh
• Application Number:
  US12/286,202
• Time in Patent Office: 547 Days
• Field of Search: 714/2, 714/5, 714/6, 714/15, 714/38, 714/48, 711/161, 711/162, 711/173, 713/2, 709/224, 717/168, 717/170, 717/174
• US Class Current: 714/6.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1417 Boot up procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities

Abstract

A system and method for recovering from a computer system crashing as a result of the storage disk suffering physical damage and/or the corruption of an application, operating system, and/or data. The computer system may be standalone or a part of a communication network. The computer includes a hard disk storage divided into a primary partition containing a unique operating system for executing application programs and a recovery partition containing a unique operating system for executing application programs and for backup data storage. A boot track storing a boot manager, a backup status information file for establishing communication between the operating systems of the primary and recovery partitions, and a status validation file verifying the integrity of the backup status information file.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture stored on a computer-readable storage medium which recovers from corruption of a primary operating system in a system in which a primary operating system and user data are stored in a first storage area, the article of manufacture performing the steps of:

(a) creating and storing, in a second storage area, a sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including user data after the primary operating system has been installed;

(b) using the primary operating system to install a second operating system in a protected storage area outside of the first storage area, the protected storage area being hidden from users; and

(c) in the event of corruption of the primary operating system, restoring the first storage area including user data under the control of the second operating system using the sector-by-sector copy stored in the second storage area.

2. An article of manufacture stored on a computer-readable storage medium which recovers from corruption of a primary operating system in a system in which a primary operating system is stored in a first storage area, the article of manufacture performing the steps of:

(a) creating and storing, in a second storage area, a sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including user data after the primary operating system has been installed; and

(b) in the event of corruption of the primary operating system, restoring the first storage area including user data under the control of the second operating system using the sector-by-sector copy stored in the second storage area, wherein the article of manufacture includes the step of using the primary operating system to install the second operating system in a protected storage area hidden from users.

3. A computer-implemented method of recovering from corruption of a primary operating system in a system in which the primary operating system and user data are stored in a first storage area, comprising the steps of:

(a) creating and storing, in a second storage area, a sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including user data after the primary operating system has been installed; and

(b) in the event of corruption of the primary operating system, restoring the first storage area including user data under the control of a second operating system using the sector-by-sector copy stored in the second storage area, wherein the method includes the step of using the primary operating system to install the second operating system in a protected storage area hidden from users.

4. An apparatus comprising:

(a) a first storage area which stores a first operating system and user data, said first operating system for operating the apparatus before and after a restoring of the first storage area;

(b) a second storage area which is coupled to the first storage area and stores a recovery operating system and a first sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including the primary operating system and user data which is added after the primary operating system is stored;

(c) a second copy of the first storage area which comprises changed content of the first storage area after the first copy was made, said copy stored in a storage area of the apparatus; and

(d) the recovery operating system which restores the first storage area using at least one of the first copy and the second copy.

5. The data processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first storage area and the area outside the first storage area are contained in a single storage device.

6. The data processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first storage area is contained in a first storage device and the second storage area is contained in a second storage device different from the first storage device and a coupling between the first and second storage devices uses at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

7. A computer-implemented method of recovering a system in which a primary operating system and user data are stored in a first storage area of the system, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) creating a backup/restore information file and storing it in an area outside the first storage area for establishing communication between the primary operating system and a recovery operating system;

(b) creating a first copy of the first storage area and storing the first copy outside of the first storage area;

(c) creating a second copy of the first storage area and storing the second copy in an area outside of the first storage area, said second copy comprising the changed content of the first storage area including user data since the first copy was made; and

(d) restoring the first storage area from at least one of the first copy and the second copy using the backup/restore information file and at least one of the primary operating system and the recovery operating systems.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein the step of creating the first copy includes sector-by-sector copying.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area from the at least one of the first copy and the second copy includes the step of restoring the first storage area using less than all of the portions chosen from the first and the second copy.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein the step of creating the first copy includes the step of using the primary operating system to create the first copy.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the step of storing the first copy of the first storage area in the storage area outside the first storage area includes storing on one storage device which contains the recovery operating system and the step of restoring the first storage area includes the step of using the one storage device and the recovery operating system.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the first storage area is located in a first storage device, the step of storing the first copy of the first storage area includes storing it in a second storage device different from the first storage device, and the method includes coupling the first and second storage devices using at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 including the steps of storing the first copy in a first storage device, storing the second copy in a second storage device different from the first storage device and coupling the first and second storage devices using at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

14. A data processing apparatus comprising:

(a) a first storage area which stores a first operating system and user data and, said first operating system operating the apparatus before and after a restoring of the first storage area;

(b) an area outside of the first storage area which stores a first copy of the first storage area including user data after the first operating system has been installed, said copy created by the first operating system and a second copy of the first storage area, said second copy comprising content of the first storage area changed since the first copy was made;

(c) a backup and restore information file stored in an area outside the first storage area and establishing communication between the first operating system and a recovery operating system; and

(d) the recovery operating system stored in the area outside the first storage area;

said recovery operating system restoring the first storage area using at least one of the first copy and the second copy and the backup and restore information file.

15. The data processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first storage area and the area outside the first storage area are contained in a single storage device.

16. The data processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first storage area is contained in a first storage device and the second storage area is contained in a second storage device different from the first storage device and the apparatus includes a coupling between the first and second storage devices using at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

17. A data processing apparatus comprising:

(a) a first storage area which stores a first operating system and user data;

(b) a second storage area which stores a first sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including user data after the first operating system has been installed, said copy was created by the first operating system and a second copy of the first storage area, said second copy comprising changed content of the first storage area since the first copy was made; and

(c) a third storage area which stores at least one of the first copy and the second copy using a second operating system and operates using a third operating system within the restored copy which is different from the second operating system.

18. The data processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are contained in a single storage device.

19. The data processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first storage area is contained in a first storage device and the second storage area is contained in a second storage device different from the first storage device and the apparatus includes a coupling between the first and second storage devices which uses at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

20. An article of manufacture stored on a computer-readable storage medium which recovers a system in which a primary operating system and user data are stored in a first storage area of the system, the article of manufacture performing the steps of:

(a) creating a backup/restore information file and storing it in an area outside the first storage area for establishing communication between the primary operating system and a recovery operating system;

(b) creating a first copy of the first storage area and storing the first copy outside of the first storage area;

(c) creating a second copy of the first storage area and storing the second copy in an area outside of the first storage area said second copy comprises changed content of the first storage area including user data since the first copy was made; and

(d) restoring the first storage area from at least one of the first copy and the second copy using the backup/restore information file and at least one of the primary operating system and the recovery operating system.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area from the at least one of the first copy and the second copy includes restoring less than all of the portions in one of the first and the second copy.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the step of creating the first copy of the first storage area includes sector-by-sector copying.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the step of creating the first copy includes the step of using the primary operating system to create the first copy.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the article of manufacture performs the step of storing first storage area, the storage area outside the first storage area, and the recovery operating system on one storage device and the step of restoring the first storage area includes the step of using the one storage device and the second operating system.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the article of manufacture performs the steps of containing first storage area in a first storage device, containing the area outside the first storage area in a second storage device different from the first storage device, and coupling the first and second storage devices using at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the article of manufacture performs the steps of storing the first copy in a first storage device storing the second copy in a second storage device different from the first storage device, and coupling the first and second storage devices using at least one of a USB bus, I/O bus, local area network and wide area network.