Method and apparatus to present a unique background image on a personal computer display when the computer system is booted from an external drive

• US 8,549,273 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2010
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CMS Intellectual Properties Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CMS Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Deetz, Randell, Streuter, Gary William, Burke, Kenneth, Sedin, James
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US12/730,351
• Time in Patent Office: 1,287 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A backup system on an external bootable personal computer drive that presents a unique and specific wall paper display on the computer monitor when the operating system residing on the drive is booted when the drive is externally attached to the computer system. The invention is used to make it obvious to the user that the original system drive has been replaced by a cloned or imaged drive. The invention consists of a software program and a graphics file. The software program recognizes the case where the drive it resides on has been booted over an external bus and when that event occurs the software program substitutes a specific graphic file for the normal wall paper file used to display the background on the computer display.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

a. A personal computer system comprising at least;

i. a system drive controller;

ii. a first internal storage device attached to said system drive controller through a first internal bus;

iii. said first internal storage device is a bootable system drive;

iv. a first external bus connected to said internal bus through a first external bus controller;

v. a first external storage device residing outside of said computer system and attached to said first external bus;

vi. a system BIOS operating to boot an operating system from said bootable system drive or from said first external storage device;

b. said personal computer system operating a first software program residing on said system drive, which is programmed for;

i. creating at least one bootable partition on said first external storage device;

ii. copying software and data residing on said system drive to said first external storage device effective such that said first external storage device is bootable; and

iii. automatically setting a system variable residing on said first external storage device that specifies a unique desktop background wall paper to be displayed when said first external storage device is used as the boot device when attached to the said first external bus

c. said first software program will, upon first being executed after the system is booted, detect when said first external storage device has been substituted for said system drive will, automatically set said system variable to use an original desktop wallpaper in response to said detecting.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein said unique desktop background wall paper covers substantially an entire viewable portion of a screen.

3. A system as in claim 2, wherein said unique desktop background wall paper includes at least one picture which is different when said first external storage device is used than it is when said internal storage device is used.

4. A system as in claim 2, wherein said unique desktop background wall paper includes at least one color for the entire desktop which is different when said first external storage device is used then it is when said internal storage device is used.

5. A system comprising:

a. A personal computer system comprising at least;

i. a system drive controller;

ii. a first internal storage device attached to said system drive controller through a first internal bus;

iii. said first internal storage device is a bootable system drive;

iv. a first external bus connected to said internal bus through a first external bus controller;

v. a first external storage device residing physically outside of said computer system and attached to said first external bus;

vi. a system BIOS capable of booting an operating system from either of said bootable system drive or from said first external storage device;

b. said personal computer having a first software program residing on said first external storage device and, when said first external storage device is the boot device, said first software program programmed for;

i. creating at least one bootable partition on said system drive;

ii. copying software and data residing on said first external

storage device to said first system drive to make said first system drive bootable;

iii. setting a system variable residing on said first system drive that specifies the original desktop background wall paper picture to be displayed when said first system drive is used as the boot device;

c. said first software program will, upon first being executed after the system is booted, detect when said first external storage device has been substituted for said system drive will, automatically set said system variable to use an original desktop wallpaper in response to said detecting.

6. A system as in claim 5, wherein said original desktop background wall paper covers substantially an entire viewable portion of a screen.

7. A system as in claim 5, wherein said original desktop background wall paper includes at least one picture which is different when said first external storage device is used then it is when said internal storage device is used.

8. A system as in claim 5, wherein said original desktop background wall paper includes at least one color for the entire desktop which is different when said first external storage device is used then it is when said internal storage device is used.

9. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon, said computer readable program code operating to program a computer system to carry out the steps of:

normally booting and operating from an internal system drive which includes an operating system and plural different files for interacting with and being used on said operating system;

during a time of using said operating system, displaying a first wallpaper on a screen of the computer system, said wallpaper covering substantially an entire screen of the computer system other than areas for toolbars and other similar areas;

backing up said operating system and plural different files onto a backup drive, in a way such that said backup drive becomes bootable and can be used to provide a copy or a backup of said operating system;

automatically detecting an error in said internal system drive;

automatically booting from said backup drive, based on said automatically detecting an error; and

responsive to said automatically booting from said backup drive, setting a setting within the operating system which automatically changes a system wallpaper from said first wallpaper to a second wallpaper which is a unique wallpaper associated with said automatically booting from said backup drive; and

responsive to first being executed after the system is booted, detecting when said backup drive has been substituted for said system drive, and automatically setting said system to use an original desktop wallpaper in response to said detecting.

10. A product as in claim 9, wherein said second wallpaper has a different picture than said first wallpaper.

11. A product as in claim 9, further comprising automatically detecting that said backup drive has been set as a new main system drive, and automatically restoring the wallpaper to be the first wallpaper.

12. A product as in claim 9, further comprising allowing steps which automatically allows switching from a main system drive to the backup drive as being a new main system drive.

13. A product as in claim 12, further comprising periodically updating the files on said backup drive to maintain a current backup.

14. A product as in claim 9, wherein said main system drive is an internal drive, and said backup drive is an external drive.