Apparatus and method for suspending and resuming software on a computer

Claim 2

A control unit of a computer system comprising: process resuming means for resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and program execution control means for restarting the execution of a program from the beginning at the powering back on according to the judged results by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 3

A control unit of a computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether printing is in operation.

Claim 4

A control unit of a computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether at least one of a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magneto-optic disk drive, and a magnetic tape drive is being accessed or not.

Claim 5

A control unit of a computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether the computer system is in communication with another computer system or not.

Claim 6

A control unit it of a computer system of claim 1, further comprising: system status holding means for holding information indicating the status of the computer system; and non-resumable condition holding means for holding non-resumable condition according to which the previous process substantially can not be resumed once the power is off, even the stored contents in the memory means has been resumed at powering back on, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether the status of the computer system meets the non-resumable condition.

Claim 7

A control unit of a computer system of claim 1, wherein the program execution control means further comprising: unprocessed information setting means for setting unprocessed information indicating that the execution of the program has not started; and program execution initiating means for initiating the execution of the program when the unprocessed information is detected to be set.

Claim 8

A control unit of a computer system of claim 6, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means and the unprocessed information setting means respectively judges the non-resumable condition and sets the unprocessed information at the powering off.

Claim 9

A control unit of a computer system of claim 6, wherein the non-resumable condition Judging means and the unprocessed information setting means respectively judges the non-resumable condition and sets the unprocessed information at the powering back on.

Claim 10

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; power-off preserving means for powering off after transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second storing means when the powering off operation is directed; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and program execution control means for restarting the execution of a program from the beginning at the powering back on according to the judged results by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 11

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; power-off preserving means for powering off after transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second storing means when the powering off operation is directed; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and program execution control means for restarting the execution of a program from the beginning at the powering back on according to the judged results by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 12

A control unit of a computer system of claim 9 wherein, the first storing means includes registers in CPU, registers in input/outputcontrol units, and a volatile memory.

Claim 13

A control unit of a computer system of claim 10, wherein the second storing means includes a non-volatile storing means.

Claim 14

A control unit of a computer system of claim 11, wherein the non-volatile storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 15

A control unit of a computer system of claim 11, wherein the non-volatile storing means includes an electrical erasable programmable read-only memory.

Claim 16

A control unit of a computer system of claim 11, wherein the non-volatile storing means includes a magneto-optic disk drive.

Claim 17

A control unit of a computer system of claim 10, wherein the second storing means includes a battery backed-up volatile memory.

Claim 18

A control unit of a computer system of claim 9, further comprising: a power switch for outputting an off-signal according to the operation of the user; interrupt control means for directing the power-off preserving means to process according to the off-signal from the power switch; power supply means for stopping power supply according to the direction from the power-off processing means;

Claim 19

A control unit of a computer system of claim 9, further comprising: power-on resuming means for returning the data held in the second storing means to the first storing means;

Claim 20

A control unit of a computer system of claim 17, further comprising: a power switch for outputting an off-signal according to the operation of the user; power supply means for initiating power supply according to the on-signal from the power switch; and power-on reset means for directing the power-on resuming means to process according to the on-signal from the power switch.

Claim 21

A control unit of a computer system of claim 17, further comprising: power-off non-preserving means for powering off upon receiving the direction; and power-off operation switching means for switching between the power-off preserving means and the power-off non-preserving means when the powering off operation is directed, according to the operation of the user, wherein the power-off preserving means set to the second storing means a preserving flag indicating that the data held in the first storing means has been transferred thereto, and the power-on resuming means returns the data in the second storing means to the first storing means when it has detected the set flag.

Claim 22

A control unit of a computer system of claim 9, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means performs judging operation at the powering off.

Claim 23

A control unit of a computer system of claim 9, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means performs judging operation at the powering on.

Claim 24

A control unit of a computer system comprising: process resuming means for resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and power control unit for powering off after the process has been judged to be in the substantially resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 25

A control unit of a computer system comprising: process resuming means for resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and power control unit for powering off after the process has been judged to be in the substantially resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 26

A control unit of a computer system of claim 22, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether all the contents in the buffer memory contained in a storing unit are stored in a storing medium.

Claim 27

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; power-off preserving means for transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second storing means when the powering off operation is directed; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and power control means for powering off after the power-off preserving means has completed its operation and the system has been judged to be in the resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 28

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; power-off preserving means for transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second storing means when the powering off operation is directed; non-resumable condition judging means for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and power control means for powering off after the power-off preserving means has completed its operation and the system has been judged to be in the resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 29

A control unit of a computer system of claim 24, wherein the non-resumable condition judging means judges whether all the contents in the buffer memory contained in a storing unit are stored in a storing medium.

Claim 30

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding programs even when the power is off; second storing means for holding the programs and execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; third storing means for holding written data even when the power is off; program loading means for loading the programs from the first storing means to the second storing means; program execution status control means for, when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program according to a powering off direction, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means, deleting the information according to a powering off direction; and power-off preserving means for deleting the information in the second storing means, transferring the non-set execution status information and the programs in the second storing means corresponding thereto to the third storing means, and powering off according to a powering off direction.

Claim 31

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding programs even when the power is off; second storing means for holding the programs and execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; third storing means for holding written data even when the power is off; program loading means for loading the programs from the first storing means to the second storing means; program execution status control means for, when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program according to a powering off direction, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means, deleting the information according to a powering off direction; and power-off preserving means for deleting the information in the second storing means, transferring the non-set execution status information and the programs in the second storing means corresponding thereto to the third storing means, and powering off according to a powering off direction.

Claim 32

A control unit of a computer system of claim 26, wherein the first storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 33

A control unit of a computer system of claim 26, wherein the third storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 34

A control unit of a computer system of claim 26, wherein the third storing means includes an electrical erasable programmable read-only memory.

Claim 35

A control unit of a computer system of claim 26, wherein the third storing means includes a battery backed-up volatile memory.

Claim 36

A control unit of a computer system of claim 26, further comprising: power-on resuming means for returning the data held in the third storing means to the second storing means at the powering on.

Claim 37

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding programs even when the power is off; second storing means for holding the programs and execution status information indicating their execution status only when the power is on; third storing means for holding written data even when the power is off; program loading means for loading the programs from the first storing means to the second storing means; program execution status control means for, when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program and setting information indicating the storing location of the program is the second storing means, when the program is deleted from the second storing means before the execution of the program is completed, setting information indicating the storing location of the program is the first storing means, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, and when the program is deleted from the second storing means after the completion, deleting the information; power-off preserving means for, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is set to the execution status information according to a powering off direction, deleting the information, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, and the storing location information indicates the first storing means according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has not been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means after changing the storing location information of the execution status information to the first storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information and the corresponding program to the third storing means to finally power off.

Claim 38

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding programs even when the power is off; second storing means for holding the programs and execution status information indicating their execution status only when the power is on; third storing means for holding written data even when the power is off; program loading means for loading the programs from the first storing means to the second storing means; program execution status control means for, when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program and setting information indicating the storing location of the program is the second storing means, when the program is deleted from the second storing means before the execution of the program is completed, setting information indicating the storing location of the program is the first storing means, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, and when the program is deleted from the second storing means after the completion, deleting the information; power-off preserving means for, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is set to the execution status information according to a powering off direction, deleting the information, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, and the storing location information indicates the first storing means according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has not been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means after changing the storing location information of the execution status information to the first storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information and the corresponding program to the third storing means to finally power off.

Claim 39

A control unit of a computer system of claim 32, wherein the first storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 40

A control unit of a computer system of claim 32, wherein the third storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 41

A control unit of a computer system of claim 32, wherein the third storing means includes an electrical erasable programmable read-only memory.

Claim 42

A control unit of a computer system of claim 32, wherein the third storing means includes a battery backed-up volatile memory.

Claim 43

A control unit of a computer system of claim 32, further comprising: power-on resuming means for returning the data held in the third storing means to the second storing means at the powering on.

Claim 44

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; third storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; first power-off preserving means for transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second memory means when the powering off operation is directed, and then powering off; second power-off preserving means for, when the amount of data held in the first storing means is larger than the storing capacity of the second storing means, transferring the remaining data to the third storing means, and the powering off.

Claim 45

A control unit of a computer system comprising: first storing means for holding written data while the power is on; second storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; third storing means for holding the written data even when the power is off; first power-off preserving means for transferring the data held in the first storing means to the second memory means when the powering off operation is directed, and then powering off; second power-off preserving means for, when the amount of data held in the first storing means is larger than the storing capacity of the second storing means, transferring the remaining data to the third storing means, and the powering off.

Claim 46

A control unit of a computer system of claim 38 wherein, the first storing means includes registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory.

Claim 47

A control unit of a computer system of claim 39, wherein the second storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 48

A control unit of a computer system of claim 39, wherein the second storing means includes an electrical erasable programmable read-only memory.

Claim 49

A control unit of a computer system of claim 39, wherein the second storing means includes a battery backed-up volatile memory.

Claim 50

A control unit of a computer system of claim 39, wherein the third storing means includes a hard disk drive.

Claim 51

A control unit of a computer system of claim 43, wherein the second power-off preserving means transfers the remaining data to the free space of the third storing means.

Claim 52

A control unit of a computer system of claim 44, wherein when the second power-off preserving means transfers the remaining data to the free space of the third storing means, it stores a pointer indicating the position of the free space to the second storing means.

Claim 53

A control unit of a computer system of claim 44, wherein when the second power-off preserving means transfers the remaining data to a number of discontinuous free spaces of the third storing means, it stores each pointer indicating the position of the corresponding next free space to each of the free spaces and a terminal symbol to the last free space.

Claim 54

A control unit of a computer system of claim 44, wherein the second power-off preserving means transfers the remaining data, without changing the information indicating whether each space is free or not stored in the third storing means.

Claim 55

A control unit of a computer system of claim 44, wherein the second power-off preserving means transfers the remaining data, with changing the information indicating whether each space is free or not stored in the third storing means to the information indicating it is not a free space, and transferrers the remaining data.

Claim 56

A control method of a computer system comprising the steps of: resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and restarting the execution of a program from the beginning at the powering back on according to the judged results by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 57

A control method of a computer system comprising the steps of: resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and restarting the execution of a program from the beginning at the powering back on according to the judged results by the non-resumable condition judging means.

Claim 58

A control method of a computer system of the claim 49, wherein the judging step is performed at the powering off.

Claim 59

A control method of a computer system of the claim 49, wherein the judging step is performed at the powering on.

Claim 60

A control method of a computer system comprising the steps of: resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and powering off after the process has been judged to be in the substantially resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging step.

Claim 61

A control method of a computer system comprising the steps of: resuming the execution of the program it was running before the powering off operation by resuming the previous contents stored in memory means containing registers in CPU, registers in input/output control units, and a volatile memory there were before the powering off operation; judging whether the status of the computer system meets the substantially non-resumable condition or not even the stored contents in the storing means has returned to the previous status at the powering back on; and powering off after the process has been judged to be in the substantially resumable status by the non-resumable condition judging step.

Claim 62

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: loading the programs from the first storing means which holds the programs even when the power is off, to the second storing means which holds the programs and the execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means, deleting the information; and when powering off operation is directed, deleting the information in the second storing means, transferring the non-set execution status information and the programs in the second storing means corresponding thereto to the third storing means, and powering off.

Claim 63

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: loading the programs from the first storing means which holds the programs even when the power is off, to the second storing means which holds the programs and the execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program, when the execution is completed, setting information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means, deleting the information; and when powering off operation is directed, deleting the information in the second storing means, transferring the non-set execution status information and the programs in the second storing means corresponding thereto to the third storing means, and powering off.

Claim 64

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: loading the programs from the first storing means which holds the programs even when the power is off, to the second storing means which holds the programs and the execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program, and setting the information indicating the storing location of the program is the second storing means, when the program is deleted from the second storing means before the execution of the program is completed, setting the information indicating the storing location of the program is the first storing means, when the execution is completed, setting the information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means after the execution of the program is completed, deleting the information; and if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is set to the execution status information according to a powering off direction, deleting the information, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information and the storing location information indicates the first storing means according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means which holds written data even when the power is off, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has not been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means after changing the storing location information of the execution status information to the first storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information and the corresponding program to the third storing means to finally power off.

Claim 65

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: loading the programs from the first storing means which holds the programs even when the power is off, to the second storing means which holds the programs and the execution status information indicating their execution status while the power is on; when a program is loaded to the second storing means, registering the execution status information corresponding to the program, and setting the information indicating the storing location of the program is the second storing means, when the program is deleted from the second storing means before the execution of the program is completed, setting the information indicating the storing location of the program is the first storing means, when the execution is completed, setting the information indicating the completion to the execution status information, when the program is deleted from the second storing means after the execution of the program is completed, deleting the information; and if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is set to the execution status information according to a powering off direction, deleting the information, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information and the storing location information indicates the first storing means according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means which holds written data even when the power is off, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has not been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information to the third storing means after changing the storing location information of the execution status information to the first storing means, if the information to indicate the completion of the execution is not set to the execution status information, the storing location information indicates the second storing means, and the loaded program has been changed according to a powering off direction, transferring the execution status information and the corresponding program to the third storing means to finally power off.

Claim 66

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: when the powering off operation is directed, transferring the data held in the first storing means which holds written data while the power is on, to the second storing means which holds the data even when the power is off, and then powering off; when the amount of data held in the first storing means is larger than the storing capacity of the second storing means, transferring the remaining data to the third storing means which holds written data even when the power is off, and the powering off.

Claim 67

A control unit of a computer system comprising the steps of: when the powering off operation is directed, transferring the data held in the first storing means which holds written data while the power is on, to the second storing means which holds the data even when the power is off, and then powering off; when the amount of data held in the first storing means is larger than the storing capacity of the second storing means, transferring the remaining data to the third storing means which holds written data even when the power is off, and the powering off.