Dung Phuong Tran

US Patent:

6807630, Oct 19, 2004

Filed:

Dec 15, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/738369

Inventors:

Tatchi Placido Lay - Austin TX
Brien Henry Muschett - Palm Beach Gardens FL
Allen Justin Ramlow - Austin TX
Cuong Huu Tran - Austin TX
Dung Huu Tran - Austin TX

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G06F 15177

US Classification:

713 2, 713 1, 714 15

Abstract:

The invention relates to a computer in which an image of the operating system is maintained in a secondary memory. This memory is either powered from a source independent of the main memory, or is non-volatile in nature. When the computer is reinitialized, the loader software that normally builds the operating system from components instead checks the secondary memory for the presence of an operating system image. If such an image is detected, the loader transfers the image from the secondary memory to the primary memory and transfers control of the computing system to the image of the operating system now in the primary memory. If no image is detected, the loader operates in a standard fashion. Additionally, a complete system image may be stored in the secondary memory. This would include the contents of the primary memory, the contents of the virtual memory, and the system state.