Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery – Data processing system error or fault handling – Reliability and availability
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-19
2001-10-23
Beausoleil, Robert (Department: 2184)
Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery
Data processing system error or fault handling
Reliability and availability
C717S152000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308288
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Due to the advances in electronic technology in recent years, computer and peripheral product capability has constantly improved and been accompanied by a range of new software releases. At the same, the lower prices of computers, computer peripherals, and software have enabled these products to become common in our daily work, study and life. Since consumer demand has caused rapid growth and major computer and computer peripheral product manufacturers face a newly expanded consumer market that requires sufficient capability, large manufacturers must promote their products as more attractive to mass consumers and thereby gain profitable market positions in a challenging and competitive market. When consumers purchase computers, various software packages are pre-installed on the hard disks to persuade consumers to purchase the computer and peripheral products. Since the Windows is the well-known and most common operating system, newly purchased computers are equipped with authorized versions licensed by the Microsoft Corporation. Other pre-installed applications including general consumer demand software packages as well as special accessory software developed by manufacturers for their various models, with the installation of the aforesaid software not only allowing consumers to operate computer more easily, but also providing computer manufacturers a profitable market development opportunity.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In general, manufacturers do not utilize ordinary copy commands and installation programs to install software on the hard disks of the various models of computers produced. To complete the copying process on the assembly line on a daily basis, operators utilize a manual method to complete the copying process on thousands of hard disks. The aforesaid method is a tedious process that not only consumes large amounts of manpower, time and costs, but also is not a fully reliable software copying approach.
Before any operating system is installed on a hard disk, the conventional method involves the utilization of a lower level method to install the aforesaid software directly on the magnetic tracks of a hard disk. However, in the utilization of the aforesaid kind of special data copying method, the software installation process onto the aforesaid hard disk ignores the normally installed testing procedure. As such, the operator is unaware the data write errors that are occurring during the installation process, the integrity of the software installation is totally dependent on the hardware equipment operating reliability.
The hard disk being installed with software via the aforesaid conventional method can be tested generally under the disk operating system (DOS) environment by testing files size, file attributes, and other data in the directory areas to ensure the correction of the installation. However, it is incapable of conducting a detailed testing of the actual software section (the software data stored on the hard disk) and thereby determining the integrity of software. During the conventional process of software installation, since impact during installation can result in data writing errors, computer manufacturers obviously cannot guarantee to consumers purchasing a computer with pre-installed software that the computer and included software will operate reliably, which results in numerous unnecessary consumer disputes and difficulties.
Furthermore, in addition to installing application software on hard disks in computers, many manufacturers also arrange a hidden storage space on the hard disk, as shown in
FIG. 1
, for installing their own developed maintenance software on hard disks and preventing them from being poorly operated, accidentally altered and deleted. And, said manufacturers utilize the method of changing the master boot record on a hard disk to let said storage space become invisible to various operating systems (including DOS/Windows and NT/UNIX, etc.). Therefore, the aforesaid storage space cannot be read or written by the user through conventional methods and are referred to as hidden partitions. Under the aforesaid environments, the aforementioned testing methods are incapable of testing the correctness of files in the aforesaid hidden partitions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Since conventional methods of testing software pre-installed on hard disks are incapable of conducting test for completeness and correctness, which, furthermore give rise to countless after-sales problems. The invention herein is capable of conducting a complete and, furthermore, reliable scientific test for the pre-installed software by providing a comprehensive and high standard testing method for creating both hidden partition files and regular partition files on a hard disk to ensure manufacturers that the internally pre-installed software of computers is reliable and correct enough to meet consumers' expectations.
The primary objective of the invention herein is to provide a kind of file information access function that replaces the original disk operating system (DOS) interface through a lower level method which directly reads data from the physical magnetic tracks on a hard disk to obtain the names, sizes, and file location information stored in all partitions (including the aforesaid hidden partition and regular partitions) and thereby enable the later testing procedures testing the correctness and completeness of the software on the hard disk.
Another objective of the invention herein is to prevent the generation of erroneous information during the testing process due to the register and swap files that are internally created and altered by the operating system during the start-up routine of a computer by allowing the operator to manually input known file and directory names beforehand, which enables the testing procedures of the invention herein to disregard the effects of the aforesaid known file and directory names and thereby create a standard software information file that can be utilized during the later testing procedures.
Yet another objective of the invention herein is to ensure the normality of creating the standard installed software information by adding a test for the normality of the information record during the comparison of the standard pre-installed software file information and the file information of the hard disk undergoing testing, which creates a temporary file of the software information on the hard disk and, furthermore, is stored in a file as the standard pre-installed software record after the compared results are verified as identical.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5537540 (1996-07-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5974567 (1999-10-01), Dickson, Jr. et al.
Chang Vam
Shen Xian-Hong
Bacon & Thomas PLLC
Baderman Scott T.
Beausoleil Robert
Inventec C'orporation
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