Method and apparatus for adding to the reserve area of a disk drive

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 5966732
SERIAL NO

08753885

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)

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Abstract

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A computer system having a monitor, disk drive, and central controller is disclosed. The computer manufacturer uses a method for expanding the reserve area of a disk drive to allow computer systems manufacturers to change the storage capacity of the reserve area. The method includes setting up a password with the disk drive manufacturer to enable two commands. One command reads the maximum address or largest track number that the user has access to. The second command allows for setting a new maximum address to which the user has access. The firmware of the disc drive is updated with the new maximum address. Once the two commands have been used to expand the reserve area, the computer system manufacturer can add critical data, and critical program instructions to the expanded or new reserve area. The computer manufacturer may decide to store a portion of a virus scan program in the expanded reserve area, or store a portion of the basic input output system (BIOS) so that a smaller BIOS read only memory (ROM) can be used for the computer system, or the computer manufacturer can store emergency boot up instructions in the reserve area in the event there is damage to the disk.

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First Claim

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddress
GATEWAY INC14303 GATEWAY PLACE POWAY CA 92064

International Classification(s)

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Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Assaf, Mahmoud Sioux City, IA 5 75

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