Method and system for transferring compressed bytes of information between separate hard disk drive units

Claim 1

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first personal computer, comprising a first CPU, a first hard disk drive, from which data is desired to be copied, and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a second hard disk drive, onto which data is desired to be copied, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits said compressed data through said first parallel port; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which receives said compressed data through said second parallel port, decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly correspond to said respective sectors of said first drive; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 2

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first personal computer, comprising a first CPU, a first hard disk drive, from which data is desired to be copied, and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a second hard disk drive, onto which data is desired to be copied, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits said compressed data through said first parallel port; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which receives said compressed data through said second parallel port, decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly correspond to said respective sectors of said first drive; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 10

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first personal computer, comprising a first CPU, a first hard disk drive, from which data is desired to be copied, and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a second hard disk drive, onto which data is desired to be copied, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits said compressed data through said first parallel port; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which receives said compressed data through said second parallel port, decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly corresponds to said respective sectors of said first drive, wherein said second process checks drive size and parameters of a second disk, and does not overwrite any of the sectors of the second disk if the drive size and parameters of said second disk are not identical to the drive size and parameters of said first disk; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 11

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first personal computer, comprising a first CPU, a first hard disk drive, from which data is desired to be copied, and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a second hard disk drive, onto which data is desired to be copied, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits said compressed data through said first parallel port; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which receives said compressed data through said second parallel port, decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly corresponds to said respective sectors of said first drive, wherein said second process checks drive size and parameters of a second disk, and does not overwrite any of the sectors of the second disk if the drive size and parameters of said second disk are not identical to the drive size and parameters of said first disk; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 12

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first portable personal computer, comprising a first CPU, at least one input device, at least one output device, a first hard disk drive incorporating Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface electronics, at least one battery connected to power said CPU under at least some conditions, a first serial port and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a keyboard, a monitor, a second hard disk drive incorporating IDE interface electronics, a second serial port, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable, which makes electrical connection between first and second ports such that data transmission lines from said first port are routed into handshaking lines at said second port; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits in parallel said compressed data through said first parallel port and into said multi-strand cable; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which (i.) checks drive size and parameters of said second disk, and, IF said checking step indicates that the size and parameters of said second disk are closely compatible with the drive size and parameters of said first disk, (ii.) receives in parallel said compressed data from said multi-strand cable and through said second parallel port, (iii.) decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, (iv.) and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly correspond to said respective sectors of said first drive; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 13

A method, comprising the steps of: (a.) providing a first portable personal computer, comprising a first CPU, at least one input device, at least one output device, a first hard disk drive incorporating Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface electronics, at least one battery connected to power said CPU under at least some conditions, a first serial port and a first parallel port; (b.) providing a second personal computer containing a second CPU, a keyboard, a monitor, a second hard disk drive incorporating IDE interface electronics, a second serial port, and a second parallel port; (c.) connecting said first and second parallel ports together by a multi-strand cable, which makes electrical connection between first and second ports such that data transmission lines from said first port are routed into handshaking lines at said second port; (d.) running a software process on said first CPU which reads out raw data from each respective individual sector of said first drive, compresses said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and transmits in parallel said compressed data through said first parallel port and into said multi-strand cable; (e.) running a software process on said second CPU which (i.) checks drive size and parameters of said second disk, and, IF said checking step indicates that the size and parameters of said second disk are closely compatible with the drive size and parameters of said first disk, (ii.) receives in parallel said compressed data from said multi-strand cable and through said second parallel port, (iii.) decompresses said compressed data to reproduce said raw data, (iv.) and writes said raw data into individual sectors of said second drive which exactly correspond to said respective sectors of said first drive; and (f.) continuing said steps (d.) and (e.), substantially simultaneously on said first and second CPUs, until substantially all of said first drive has been imaged onto said second drive.

Claim 19

A system, comprising: a portable personal computer, comprising a CPU, at least one disk drive, a serial port, a parallel port and software, stored in a nonvolatile medium, which can control said CPU so that: in response to a first user command sequence, said CPU executes instructions from said software to read out raw data from substantially all respective individual sectors of said drive, to compress said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and to transmit in parallel said compressed data through said parallel port; in response to a second user command sequence, said CPU executes instructions from said software to receive in parallel data through said parallel port, to decompress said data according to a substantially predetermined algorithm to produce corresponding uncompressed data, and to overwrite said substantially all individual sectors of said drive with said decompressed data, without regard to the file structure of said drive.

Claim 20

A system, comprising: a portable personal computer, comprising a CPU, at least one disk drive, a serial port, a parallel port and software, stored in a nonvolatile medium, which can control said CPU so that: in response to a first user command sequence, said CPU executes instructions from said software to read out raw data from substantially all respective individual sectors of said drive, to compress said raw data into substantially non-repeated bytes of compressed data, and to transmit in parallel said compressed data through said parallel port; in response to a second user command sequence, said CPU executes instructions from said software to receive in parallel data through said parallel port, to decompress said data according to a substantially predetermined algorithm to produce corresponding uncompressed data, and to overwrite said substantially all individual sectors of said drive with said decompressed data, without regard to the file structure of said drive.