Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a

Details Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a

1996-08-30

1999-01-26

Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.

G06F 1100

Patent

active

058646647

ABSTRACT:
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for changing the serial number of a replacement motherboard to that of a malfunctioning motherboard thus ensuring that application software are able to be executed on the workstation without interruption while providing assurances to software vendors that the workstation is permitted to run the application software. In an embodiment of the invention, an uninitialized serial number is stored in memory of the replacement motherboard at manufacture time. Once the replacement board is used to replace a malfunctioning motherboard, the uninitialized serial number is initialized by being replaced with the serial number of the malfunctioning motherboard. After initialization, no changes are permitted. In another embodiment of the invention, the workstation is forced to be rebooted after initialization. Here, however, changes to the initialized serial number will be allowed so long as the workstation has not been rebooted.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4424573 (1984-01-01), Eckert, Jr. et al.
patent: 4506329 (1985-03-01), Duwel et al.
patent: 4525786 (1985-07-01), Crowley et al.
patent: 4748561 (1988-05-01), Brown
patent: 4783745 (1988-11-01), Brookner et al.
patent: 5214699 (1993-05-01), Monroe et al.
patent: 5222134 (1993-06-01), Waite et al.
patent: 5375243 (1994-12-01), Parzych et al.
patent: 5434870 (1995-07-01), Benton et al.
patent: 5495531 (1996-02-01), Smiedt
patent: 5513169 (1996-04-01), Fite et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and method for protecting system serial number while a will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1456509