Apparatus and method for remote virus diagnosis and repair

A method of remotely scanning and repairing viruses on a local computer having an operating system, comprising the operations of:

• providing a bootable virus utility operating program at the local computer, the bootable virus utility operating program including a boot program and a communications program;
• booting the local computer, independently of the operating system, using the boot program of the bootable virus utility operating program if the operating system is unable to boot;
• establishing a communications link between the local computer and a remote computer using the communications program of the bootable virus utility operating program;
• enabling interaction between the local computer and the remote computer;
• maintaining access to information resident on the local computer;
• scanning viruses contained within the information stored on the local computer;
• and
• repairing information infected with viruses on the local computer.

A system for scanning and repairing viruses on a data storage medium, comprising:

• a local computer associated with the data storage medium, the local computer having a central processor unit, a memory, and an operating system;
• a remote computer;
• and
• a bootable virus utility operating program means to be loaded into the memory of the local computer for operating the local computer independently of the operating system and to establish communications between the local computer and the remote computer, the bootable virus utility operating program means comprises a boot program and a communications program on a storage medium;
• wherein the virus scanning and repairing at the local computer is remotely controlled by the remote computer so as to perform the virus scanning and repair on the data contained in the local storage medium.

A method operable on a local computer having an operating system, comprising the operations of:

• loading into a memory of the local computer an operating program, the operating program having a boot program and a communications program and being operated locally by the local computer and independently of the operating system;
• booting the local computer through the operation of the boot program of the loaded operating program by the local computer;
• and
• establishing communication between the local computer and a remote computer through the operation of the communications program of the loaded operating program by the local computer.

A system, comprising:

• a local computer associated with a data storage medium, the local computer having a central processor unit, a memory, and an operating system;
• a remote computer;
• and
• an operating program including a boot program and a communications program to be loaded into the memory of the local computer for operating the local computer independently of the operating system and to establish communication between the local computer and the remote computer.