Recovery of file systems after modification failure

Abstract

Prior to execution of a file system structure modification procedure (406) which can leave the file system structure in an invalid state, a copy is made of a boot record (110), and the boot record (110) is replaced by a recovery program (130). If the file system structure modification procedure (406) fails, leaving the file system structure in an invalid state, the recovery program (130) is automatically executed when the computer is rebooted (414). In one embodiment, the recovery program (130) completes the failed file system structure modification (406). In another embodiment, the recovery program (130) rolls the file system structure back to a valid state which predates the attempted file system structure modification (406). After restoring the file system structure to an intact state, the recovery program (130) uses the copy of the boot record (110) to restore the boot record (110) to its original state. This allows for the recovery of the file system structure without intervention by a user, and without loss of information.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.