Boot failure recovery

Details Boot failure recovery Boot failure recovery

1998-09-08

2001-05-08

Iqbal, Nadeem (Department: 2785)

Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery

Data processing system error or fault handling

Reliability and availability

C714S025000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06230285

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of computer operating systems and more particularly to the field of diagnosing failures in such operating systems.
BACKGROUND ART
Computer operating systems operate generally to control and manage the resources of a computer system. Typically, execution of an operating system is initiated upon power-on or reset of the computer system by a sequence of events known as “bootstrapping” or “booting.” The operating system is “booted” by execution of a portion of code stored in a boot sector (which is typically at a fixed location) on a storage medium such as a hard disk drive. Such code is generally referred to as boot code. The boot sector is typically within a portion of the hard disk drive known as the boot partition. The boot code then calls the main operating system code which is stored in different sectors in the boot partition.
If the operating system fails to boot, it is often difficult to determine the cause of the failure. Any diagnosis capability built into the main operating system code is unusable, as the operating system itself is not yet operational.
A known way to diagnose a failed operating system boot is to cause the computer system to boot from a different storage medium such as a floppy diskette typically referred to as a “rescue diskette.” In a Windows operating system available from Microsoft Corporation, the presence of a floppy diskette in the “A” drive causes the system to attempt to boot from the “A” drive. Thus, if a failed system boot from the hard disk drive occurs, the user can turn off the system, insert a diskette into the A drive, and attempt a reboot. The floppy diskette must contain a replica of the boot code stored in the boot partition of the hard drive. In addition, the floppy diskette can contain utility programs which can operate to help diagnose the cause of the failure.
There are several problems associated with the use of a rescue diskette. The first problem is that users often misplace or lose the rescue diskette, rendering it useless. The second problem is that the space limitations of a floppy diskette allow only a limited number of files to be stored, thus limiting the diagnosis capability. Multiple floppy diskettes can be used to store additional information. However these additional diskettes increase the odds of losing or misplacing one of the diskettes.
The Windows 95 operating system available from Microsoft Corporation has the ability to determine that a previous attempt to boot the operating system failed. When this happens, Windows 95 boots into a special mode called safe mode. However, once the operating system enters safe mode the user is offered no assistance in diagnosing and correcting the reason for the boot failure. Many users have no idea what to do when the operating system is in safe mode. In most cases the user will simply attempt to restart the system. In such a case, since the user made no changes to the system, the operating system will once again fail to boot and the user will once again be dropped back into safe mode.
As can be seen, there exists a need for a reliable and easy to use system which diagnoses the cause of a failed operating system boot failure and which guides the user through a process to correct the failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a principal aspect, the present invention assists users of bootable type operating systems (
18
) in recovering from a failed operating system boot. As used herein, the term “bootable type operating system” refers to operating systems (
18
), the execution of which is initiated by execution of a portion of code stored in a predetermined portion of a storage medium. Examples of such operating systems (
18
) include, but are not limited to, the Windows line of operating systems available from Microsoft Corporation (3.1, 95, NT) and the OS/2 operating system available from IBM Corporation.
Embodiments employing the principles of the present invention monitor the state of system files (
82
) used by the operating system (
18
) and use this information to diagnose the cause of the failure and assist in recovery from a failure. Advantageously, such embodiments do not require a separate rescue diskette which may be lost, or misplaced, or damaged.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, a boot failure recovery system which performs diagnosis of a failed system boot in a bootable type operating system (
18
) includes an agent (
24
) which monitors operating system files used during system boot. The agent (
24
) stores information regarding changes to the system files to a change file (
62
). A repair module (
22
) analyzes the change file (
62
) to determine the cause of the failed system boot. A boot check module (
20
) responds to initiation of the system boot by determining if a prior system boot was successful. The boot check module (
20
) causes execution of a first boot sector code module (
16
) upon occurrence of a successful prior system boot and causes execution of the repair module (
22
) upon occurrence of a failed prior system boot.
A particular advantage of embodiments employing the principles of the present invention is that users of bootable type operating systems (
18
) are able to diagnose the cause of a boot failure and consequently may be able to fix or work around the failure and continue to use the computer system. Additionally, embodiments employing the principles of the present invention do not require a separate diskette. Thus, the space limitation of transportable storage diskettes such as floppy diskettes are overcome.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by considering the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the course of this description reference will be frequently made to the attached drawings.


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“PC Medic 97 User's Guide”, McAfee Associates, Inc., Issued Mar. 1997, pp. 1-66.
Norton Utilities™ for Windows® User's Guide—Version 2.0, by Symantec, 1995.

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