Data processing recovery system and method spanning multiple operating system

• US 8,219,850 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2010
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United Microelectronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Inventors: Wang, Frank C., Messerli, Donald, Kelly, Dennis E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Dieu-Minh
• Application Number:
  US12/749,577
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 714/6.1, 714/6.11, 714/6.12, 714/6.13, 714/6.2, 714/6.31, 714/6.23, 714/6.3, 714/6.32, 714 10- 13
• US Class Current: 714/6.1
• 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, wherein the step of restoring the first storage area using the sector-by-sector copy under the control of the second operating system performs the step of using less than all of the portions from the sector-by-sector Copy.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the steps of storing the sector-by-sector copy, storing the second operating system on one storage device having the first storage area and restoring the first storage area include the step of using the one storage device and the second operating system.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the step of creating and storing in a second storage area includes storing in a second storage device different from a first storage device containing the first storage area and also includes the step of 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.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1 further including a step of creating a second copy of the first storage area including user data, said second copy comprises content of the first storage area changed since the first copy was made and storing the second copy in the second storage area.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area includes the step of using at least one of the first operating system and the second operating system and at least less than all portions included in one of the first copy and second copy.

6. 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, 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, wherein the steps of storing the copy in the second storage area and storing the second operating system in the protected storage area include storing in one storage device which contains the primary operating system and the first storage area and the step of restoring the first storage area including the step of using the storage device and the second operating system.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the step of storing in the second storage area includes the step of storing on a second storage device different from a first storage device which includes the first storage area, and the article of manufacture includes the step of 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.

8. 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, wherein the step of restoring the first storage area using the sector-by-sector copy includes performing the step of restoring less than all the portions from the sector-by-sector copy.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the steps of storing the sector-by-sector copy in the second storage area and installing the second operating system in the protected storage area include the step of storing them on one storage device which includes the first storage area and the step of restoring the first storage area includes the step of using the sector-by-sector copy in the one storage device and the second operating system.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the steps of creating and storing in a second storage area include storing in a second storage device different from a first storage device which contains the first storage area and also include the step of 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.

11. The computer-implemented method claim 8 further including a step of creating a second copy of the first storage area including user data, said second copy comprises incremental content of the first storage area changed since the first copy was made and storing the second copy in the second storage area.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area includes the step of using at least one of the first operating system and the second operating system and at least a portion from at least one of the first copy and second copy.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area includes copying less than all of the portions from the sector-by-sector copy.

14. A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:

(a) creating a first copy including a sector-by-sector copy of a first storage area and storing the first copy in an area outside of the first storage area, the first copy including an operating system;

(b) 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 including changed content of the first storage area since the first copy was made;

(c) restoring in a second storage area at least one of the first copy and the second copy using a second operating system; and

(d) after the restoring of step (c), operating the restored copy from the second storage area under an operating system other than the second operating system.

15. A computer-implemented method comprising:

(a) creating a first copy of a first storage area and storing the copy in a area outside of the first storage area, the first copy comprising a sector-by-sector copy of a first storage area including a primary operating system and user data;

(b) creating a second copy of the first storage area and storing the copy outside of the first storage area, the second copy comprising changed content of the first storage area since the first copy was made;

(c) restoring the first storage area from at least one position from at least one of the first copy and the second copy using at least one of the primary operating system and a second operating system; and

(d) executing the primary operating system in the first storage area both before and after the restoring of step (c).

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 wherein the step of creating the first copy including the step of using the primary operating system to create the first copy.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 wherein the step of restoring from at least one portion from at least one of the first copy and the second copy includes the step of restoring less than all portions from at least one of the first copy and the second copy.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the method includes the step of storing first storage area, the storage area outside the first storage area, and a second operating system on one storage device and the step of restoring the first storage area including the step of using the one storage device and the second operating system.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the method includes 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.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the method includes the steps of storing 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.

21. A data processing apparatus comprising:

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

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

(c) a second operating system stored in a protected storage area, said second operating system restoring the first storage area using the sector-by-sector copy stored in the second storage area.

22. The data processing apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second operating system is stored in the protected storage area by the first operating system and the first storage area, the protected storage area and the second storage area are contained in a single storage device.

23. The data processing apparatus of claim 21, 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 data processing 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.

24. An article of manufacture stored on a computer-readable storage medium performing the steps of:

(a) creating a first copy of a sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area and storing the first copy in an area outside of the first storage area, the first copy including an operating system;

(b) 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 includes changed content of the first storage area since the first copy was made,

(c) restoring in a second storage area from of at least one of the first copy and the second copy using a second operating system; and

(d) after the storing of step (c), operating the restored copy from the second storage area under an operating system other than the second operating system.

25. An article of manufacture stored on a computer-readable storage medium performing the steps of:

(a) creating a first copy of a first storage area and storing the copy in an area outside of the first storage area, the first copy comprising a sector-by-sector copy of the first storage area including a primary operating system and user data;

(b) creating a second copy of the first storage area and storing the second copy outside of the first storage area, the second copy comprising changed content of the first storage area since the first copy was made;

(c) restoring the first storage area from at least one portion from at least one of the first copy and the second copy using at least one of the primary operating system and a second operating system; and

(d) executing the primary operating system in the first storage area both before and after the restoring of step (c).

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25 wherein the step of creating the first copy including the step of using the primary operating system to create the first copy.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 25 wherein the step of restoring the first storage area from at least one portion of the first copy and the second copy includes the step of restoring at least one portion from at least one of the first copy and the second copy.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein the article of manufacture performs the step of restoring the first storage area including the step of using the second operating system and no more than one storage device and the second operating system.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein the article of manufacture additionally 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.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein the article of manufacture performs the steps of storing 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.

31. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing, to a data processing apparatus, a first operating system and a second operating system, wherein;

the first operating system is provided in a first storage area of the data processing apparatus,

the second operating system is provided in a storage area, of the data processing device, outside the first storage area,

the first storage area and the area outside the first storage area are portions of the same storage device of the data processing apparatus,

the first storage area is further provided with a respective first backup/restore program, and the area outside the first storage area is further provided with a respective second backup/restore program;

under the control of at least one of the first backup/restore program executing under the first operating system of the data processing apparatus and the second backup/restore program executing under the second operating system of the data processing apparatus,

storing a first copy of the contents of the first storage area in a second storage area, the second storage area being outside the first storage area, the first copy being a sector-based copy of the contents of the first storage area and including the first operating system;

under the control of at least one of the first backup/restore program executing under the first operating system of the data processing apparatus and the second backup/restore program executing under the second operating system of the data processing apparatus, storing a second copy of contents of the first storage area in the second storage area, wherein the contents of the first storage area included in the second copy include only changes since the first copy;

initiating, from the data processing apparatus, an operation for restoring of the first storage area using one of the first backup/restore program executing under the first operating system of the data processing apparatus and the second backup/restore program executing under the second operating system of the data processing apparatus; and

under the control of the second backup/restore program executing under the second operating system of the data processing apparatus, restoring the first storage area from at least one copy selected from the first copy and the second copy.

32. The method as set forth in claim 31, wherein the first storage area further comprises user data.

33. The method as set forth in claim 32, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are portions of the same storage device.

34. The method as set forth in claim 32, wherein the area outside the first storage area is a protected storage area.

35. The method as set forth in claim 34, further comprising the first operating system installing the second operating system.

36. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are portions of the same storage device.

37. The method as set forth in claim 36, wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are contained in the same storage area.

38. The method as set forth in claim 31, further comprising the first operating system installing the second operating system.

39. The method as set forth in claim 31, wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are the same storage area.

40. The method as set forth in claim 31 wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are not the same storage area.

41. A data processing apparatus, comprising:

a storage device and a memory under control of a processor;

the storage device having a first storage area with a first operating system, and an area outside the first storage area with a second operating system;

the storage device having a first backup/restore program stored in the first storage area, adapted to execute under the first operating system, and a second backup/restore program stored in the area outside the first storage area, adapted to execute under the second operating system;

one or more of the first and second backup/restore programs being capable of storing, in a second storage area outside the first storage area, a first copy of the first storage area, the first copy being a sector-based copy of the contents of the first storage area including the first operating system;

one or more of the first and second backup/restore programs being capable of storing, in the second storage area, a second copy of contents of the first storage area, wherein the contents of the first storage area included in the second copy include only changes since the first copy; and

one or more of the first and second backup/restore programs being capable of initiating, from the data processing device, an operation for restoration of the first storage area; and

the second backup/restore program restoring the first storage area from at least one copy selected from the first copy and the second copy;

wherein the processor of the data processing apparatus executes the first operating system in the first storage area before and after the first storage area is restored.

42. The apparatus as set forth in claim 41, wherein the first storage area further comprises user data.

43. The apparatus as set forth in claim 42, wherein the area outside the first storage area is a protected storage area.

44. The apparatus as set forth in claim 43, wherein the second operating system is installed by the first operating system.

45. The apparatus as set forth in claim 44, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are portions of the same storage device.

46. The apparatus as set forth in claim 45, wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are the same storage area.

47. The apparatus as set forth in claim 41, wherein the second operating system is installed by the first operating system.

48. The apparatus as set forth in claim 41, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are portions of the same storage device.

49. The apparatus as set forth in claim 41, wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are the same storage area.

50. The apparatus as set forth in claim 41, wherein the area outside the first storage area, and the second storage area, are not the same storage area.