EP0726518A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
A method and apparatus for booting a computer system without pre-installing an operating system
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1996-02-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-02-13
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus are provided that significantly reduces the inconvenience of placing a computer system in a useful state. The invention quickly boots the system without preinstalling the operating system and allows installation of the operating system to occur without usurping the computer's resources from a user. A full version of the operating system is made accessible to the user by a boot device having sufficient capacity to hold the full operating system. A local media of the computer system is formatted so that the operating system may perform memory management functions, such as paging and swapping, if necessary. Consequently, the system is usable without requiring preinstallation of the operating system. The files relating to the operating system may be transferred from a boot device to a local media at a more convenient time, or performed as a concurrent or background process.
Inventors
- 👤 Craig A. Bennett
- 👤 Salil Janardan 30295Kulkarni
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 13:28
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/4401; G06F9/4406
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
Apparatus for booting a computer system in response to initial booting instructions, the system having a local recording media and a memory, wherein the booting apparatus enables the system to execute applications under the control of operating system programs before the operating system programs are installed on the local media, the apparatus comprising: means for communicating with a boot media having stored thereon operating system programs including a kernel portion; means responsive to the initial booting instructions for copying the kernel portion from the boot media into the memory; means, responsive to the initial booting instructions, for initializing the kernel portion to recognize that the operating system programs are located on the boot media; and means, responsive to the initial booting instructions, for starting the kernel portion so that applications may then execute on the system, under the control of the kernel portion and operating system programs located on the boot media.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
37 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, including: means, controlled by the kernel portion, for determining whether the local media is formatted; and means, controlled by the kernel portion, for formatting the local media if it is not formatted.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the kernel portion comprises: means operable when the kernel portion is executing for determining a hardware configuration for the computer system and for building a configuration file based on the hardware configuration; and means controlled by the configuration file for loading an installation program from the boot media and for starting the installation program.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
57 words
Apparatus according to claim 3, which further comprises: means controlled by the installation program for loading an application program and starting the application program; and means controlled by the operating system programs located on the boot media for installing the operating system programs from the boot media to the local media, after the application program has started.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means for installing operating system programs is a background process under the control of the operating system programs located on the boot media.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the local media is a fixed disk.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the boot media is a CD-ROM.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
146 words
A method for booting a computer system, having a boot ROM containing initial booting instructions, a local media, and a memory, wherein the computer system is enabled to execute applications under the control of operating system programs before the operating system programs are installed on the local media, the method comprising the steps of: A. receiving a boot media having stored thereon the operating system programs, which include a kernel portion; B. copying the kernel portion from the boot media into the memory under control of the initial booting instructions; C. initializing the kernel portion to recognize that the operating system programs are located on the boot media under control of the initial booting instructions; and D. starting the kernel portion so that applications may then execute on the system, under the control of the kernel portion and operating system programs located on the boot media.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of: E. determining whether the local media is formatted; and F. formatting the local media when the disk is not already formatted.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein step D comprises the steps of: D1. determining a hardware configuration for the computer system; D2. building a configuration file based on the hardware configuration; D3. loading an installation program identified by the configuration file from the boot media; and D4. starting the installation program.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of: G. loading an application program under control of the installation program; H. starting the application program; and I. installing the operating system programs from the boot media to the local media, after the application program has started.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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