US 7,024,549 B1Granted

Disk drive having a protected partition configured to load an operating system for performing a user-selected function

AssigneeWestern Digital Ventures, Inc.

InventorsVu V. Luu, Stephen T Havert, Matthew W. Milne

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Abstract

A system for configuring, loading and executing an operating system for performing a user-selected function is disclosed. The system includes a disk drive including: a host-accessible user partition; a host-inaccessible hidden partition independent of the host-accessible user partition; and a disk controller. The user partition includes: a user partition address range; a host-selected operating system; and a host-selected master boot record. The host-inaccessible hidden partition includes: a hidden partition address range outside the user partition address range; an application program for allowing a user to select a function to perform and configuring, loading and executing an operating system to perform the selected function; and a drive-selected boot record for loading and executing the application program that allows the user to select a function and configures, loads and executes an operating system for performing the function.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A disk drive for use with a computer system, the disk drive comprising:

a. a host-accessible user partition including:
i. a user partition address range;
ii. a host-selected operating system stored within the user partition address range;
and
iii. a host-selected master boot record stored within the user partition address range, the host selected master boot record identifying the host-selected operating system;
b. a host-inaccessible hidden partition independent of the host-accessible user partition and including:
i. a hidden partition address range outside the user partition address range;
ii. a drive-selected boot record stored within the hidden partition address range, the drive-selected boot record configured to load an instruction set capable of executing an application program having a user interface for accepting a user selection identifying the user-selectable function to be performed, to execute the application program, to accept the user selection identifying the user-selectable function to be performed, and to load an operating system configured to perform the user-selectable function;
and
iii. at least one drive-selected operating system configurable to perform at least one user-selectable function;
and
c. a disk controller configured to receive a command from the computer system to read the host-selected master boot record, and to send in place of the host-selected master boot record the drive-selected boot record to the computer system in response to receipt of the command.

9 more elements

A computer system comprising:

a. a disk drive including:
i. a host-accessible user partition including:
(1) a user partition address range;
(2) a host-selected operating system stored within the user partition address range;
and
(3) a host-selected master boot record stored within the user partition address range, the host-selected master boot record identifying the host-selected operating system;
ii. a host-inaccessible hidden partition independent of the host-accessible user partition and including:
(1) a hidden partition address range outside the user partition address range;
and
(2) a drive-selected boot record stored within the hidden partition address range;
and
iii. a disk controller configured to receive a command from a host computer to read the host-selected master boot record, and to send in place of the host-selected master boot record the drive-selected boot record to the host computer in response to receipt of the command;
and
b. the host computer coupled to the disk drive and including:
i. a host processor configured to generate the command to read the host-selected master boot record;
and
ii. a host memory configured to load the drive-selected boot record to define a loaded drive-selected boot record, after the disk drive receives the command;
iii. the host processor configured to execute the loaded drive-selected boot record, the drive-selected boot record configured to load an instruction set capable of executing an application program having a user interface for accepting a user selection identifying the user-selectable function to be performed, to execute the application program, to accept the user selection identifying the user-selectable function to be performed, and to load an operating system configured to perform the user-selectable function.

15 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.