System and method for loading programs from HDD independent of operating system
US7366887B2 · kind B2 · utility
22Cited by
9References
12Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 11, 2005 |
| Grant date | Apr 29, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 19, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/4406
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for booting into computer memory a non-operating system (O.S.) program from a hard disk drive (HDD) prior to booting into memory an O.S. from the HDD. The method includes establishing a table of contents (TOC) on the HDD that contains entries for special O.S. programs. A pointer to the TOC is placed in non-volatile memory of the computer that is associated with the HDD, and when BIOS of the computer is prompted to load into memory one of the special O.S. programs, the pointer is accessed and used to locate the TOC, which in turn is accessed to load the special O.S. program.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.