Configuration of a basic input/output system (BIOS) based on a series of follow up questions tailored to user type

• US 8,645,675 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2009
• Issued: 02/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Gillespie, Kurt
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Chun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Danny
• Application Number:
  US13/259,819
• Publication Number:
  US 20120017073A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,518 Days
• Field of Search: 713/2
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to configuring a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) of a computing device. An embodiment of a method may present, by the computing device, a first request relating to a first functionality of the computing device controlled by one or more settings of the BIOS, and may receive a first user response corresponding to the first request. The method may also present a second request relating to a second functionality of the computing device controlled by one or more settings of the BIOS, with the second request being selected based on the first user response. The method may then receive a second user response corresponding to the second request. In addition, the method may configure at least one setting of the BIOS based on the first and second user responses. Embodiments of a related computing device and computer-readable storage medium are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) of a computing device, the method comprising:

presenting, by the computing device, a first request relating to a first computing device functionality controlled by one or more settings of the BIOS;

receiving, by the computing device, a first user response corresponding to the first request;

presenting, by the computing device, a second request relating to a second computing device functionality controlled by one or more settings of the BIOS, wherein the second request is selected based on the first user response;

receiving, by the computing device, a second user response corresponding to the second request;

determining a user type from a plurality of user types, wherein the first and second requests each have multiple versions, each version using wording customized for a respective user type, and the first and second requests presented by the computing device are selected from the multiple versions based on the determined user type; and

configuring, by the computing device, at least one setting of the BIOS based on the first and second user responses.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second request is selected from a plurality of candidate requests, each candidate request corresponding to a respective possible response to the first request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second request is selected from the plurality of candidate requests by using the first user response to traverse a decision tree from a first node corresponding to the first request to a second node corresponding to the second request.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first user response indicates a user requirement for the first computing device functionality and the second user response indicates a user requirement for the second computing device functionality, and

the configuring comprises;

when the first user response indicates that the first computing device functionality is not required, disabling the one or more settings of the BIOS that control the first computing device functionality, and

when the second user response indicates that the second computing device functionality is not required, disabling the one or more settings of the BIOS that control the second computing device functionality.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a categorization request;

wherein determining the user type from the plurality of user types is based on a user response to the categorization request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of user types are associated with respective groups of requests, the method further comprising:

selecting one of the groups based on the determined user type,

the first and second requests presented by the computing device being selected from the selected group of requests.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method executes during a boot-up procedure of the computing device.

8. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a computer-readable storage medium encoded with BIOS configuration instructions executable by the processor, the BIOS configuration instructions comprising;

instructions for presenting a plurality of requests, each request relating to a respective functionality controlled by one or more settings of a Basic Input Output System (BIOS),

instructions for receiving a plurality of responses from a user, each response corresponding to a respective one of the requests, wherein each request subsequent to a first of the requests is selected based on the response to a previous one of the requests,

instructions for determining a user type from a plurality of user types, wherein the requests each have multiple versions, each version using wording customized for a respective user type, and the requests presented are selected from the multiple versions based on the determined user type, and

instructions for configuring at least one setting of the BIOS based on the plurality of responses.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein, when the response corresponding to a particular one of the requests indicates that the user does not understand the particular request or know an appropriate response to the particular request, the instructions for configuring maintain a default or current setting for the at least one setting of the BIOS that controls the related functionality.

10. The computing device of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of requests does not explicitly identify the one or more settings of the BIOS that control the respective functionality.

11. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises:

instructions for automatically beginning execution of the BIOS configuration instructions during boot-up when a credential used to access the BIOS has not yet been set.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a computing device to configure a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), the instructions comprising:

instructions for presenting a plurality of requests, each request relating to a respective functionality controlled by one or more settings of the BIOS;

instructions for receiving, from a user, a plurality of responses, each response corresponding to a respective one of the requests;

instructions for determining a user type from a plurality of user types, wherein the requests each have multiple versions, each version using wording customized for a respective user type, and the requests presented are selected from the multiple versions based on the determined user type, and

instructions for configuring at least one setting of the BIOS to meet the user preferences based on the plurality of responses,

wherein each request subsequent to a first of the requests is selected from a plurality of candidate requests using a response to a previous one of the requests, each candidate request corresponding to a possible response to the previous request.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein each subsequent request is selected from the plurality of candidate requests by traversing a decision tree using the response to the previous request.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for configuring configure the at least one setting of the BIOS based on configuration information associated with a leaf node of the decision tree reached using a last response from the user.