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US5960206A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method and apparatus for estimating installation time in a data processing system

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1998-03-24
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Granted: 1999-09-28
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Expires: 2018-03-24
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Abstract

Abstract A method and apparatus for estimating the time needed to install software. Configuration information about the data processing system is obtained, as well as information about data needing conversion that is stored on the system. The stand-alone installation time for each portion of the software to be installed is determined and a menu of the installation options is displayed for selection. In response to the selection of options, a determination of whether the installation will be non-linear is made. Non-linear installation involves the ability to install several portions of the software simultaneously, such as in, for example, multiprocessing, multithreading, or parallel processing. In response to a presence of non-linear processing, installation time is determined for the selected options and displayed to the user.

Inventors

  • 👤 Eric Lawrence Barsness
  • 👤 Richard Fred Harwood
  • 👤 Jennifer Anne Larson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 13:46
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F8/00; G06F8/60; G06F8/61; G06F11/00; G06F11/30; G06F11/32; G06F11/324; G06F11/34; G06F11/3409; G06F11/3419; G06F11/3447; G06F11/22; G06F11/2247; G06F2201/00; G06F2201/86; G06F2201/865

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim 48 words
A method in a data processing system for estimating the time required to install software, the method comprising: obtaining hardware configuration information about the data processing system; and prior to initiation of installing the software, estimating a time for completing installation of the software utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 48 words
A method in a data processing system for estimating the time required to install software, the method comprising: obtaining hardware configuration information about the data processing system; and prior to initiation of installing the software, estimating a time for completing installation of the software utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 22 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising: obtaining information about data stored in the data processing system, wherein the data requires conversion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the estimated time on a display within the data processing system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the software includes a plurality of options for installation on the data processing system, and the method further comprises displaying the plurality of options on a display within the data processing system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 26 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising for each option, estimating a time for completing installation of the option, wherein the time is a stand-alone time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 39 words
The method of claim 5, wherein a number of options are selected for installation on the data processing system, and wherein the estimating step comprises estimating a time for completing installation of the selected options utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 6 further comprising displaying the time for completing selection of the selected options on the display within the data processing system.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 53 words
A data processing system for estimating the time required to install software, the data processing system comprising: obtaining means for obtaining hardware configuration information about the data processing system; and estimating means for estimating, prior to initiation of installing the software, a time for completing installation of the software utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 53 words
A data processing system for estimating the time required to install software, the data processing system comprising: obtaining means for obtaining hardware configuration information about the data processing system; and estimating means for estimating, prior to initiation of installing the software, a time for completing installation of the software utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 27 words
The data processing system of claim 8 further comprising: obtaining means for obtaining information about data stored in the data processing system, wherein the data requires conversion.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 23 words
The data processing system of claim 8, further comprising means for displaying the estimated time on a display within the data processing system.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 40 words
The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the software includes a plurality of options for installation on the data processing system, and the method further comprising displaying the plurality of options on a display within the data processing system.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 30 words
The data processing system of claim 11, further comprising, means for, estimating a time for completing installation of the option for each option, wherein the time is a stand-alone time.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 42 words
The data processing system of claim 12, wherein a number of options are selected for installation on the data processing system, and wherein the estimating means comprises means estimating a time for completing installation of the selected options utilizing the configuration information.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 28 words
The data processing system of claim 13, further comprising means displaying the time for completing selection of the selected options on the display within the data processing system.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5155837A Cited
US5117324A Cited
US5230059A Cited
US5303166A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2002-09-27 2003-03-29 2003-09-28 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2006-09-27 2007-03-29 2007-09-28 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2010-09-27 2011-03-29 2011-09-28 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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