Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Keshava Prasad Subramanya

Stephan Doll

Gregory W Nichols

Sri Sai Kameswara Pavan Kumar Kasturi

Vinit Ogale

Kiran Kumar Dowluru

Hongliu Zheng

Desmond T Lee

Yunan Yuan

Calin Negreanu

Some embodiments of the invention provide techniques whereby a user may perform a system reset (e.g., to address system performance and/or reliability degradation, such as which may be caused by unused applications that unnecessarily consume system resources, an attempted un-install of an application that left remnants of the application behind, and/or other causes). In some embodiments, performing a system reset replaces a first instance of an operating system on the system with a new instance of the operating system, and removes any applications installed on the system, without disturbing the user's data.

System reset

Some embodiments of the invention provide techniques for performing system reset and/or system restore operations. Some embodiments store a record of any changes performed to a data file stored on a virtual hard disk using differencing virtual disks that are captured over time. To restore the file to the state in which it existed at any particular point in time, embodiments of the invention may allow for rolling back the system to a differencing virtual disk captured at or before that time and setting aside blocks of the differencing virtual disk chain captured after that point. To perform a system reset, the system may be rolled back to the parent virtual hard disk, by setting aside all of the blocks of the differencing virtual disk chain. Some embodiments of the invention provide for separating information on the system into a plurality of entities, and maintaining a separate set of differencing virtual disks for each entity. For example, some embodiments may create an entity may be created for each of the operating system, applications and user data, and maintain differencing virtual disks for each over time.

System reset and system restore

In some embodiments, a routine is executed that identifies one or more applications that consume resources of the computer without a benefit that justifies such consumption, with the routine comprising evaluating at least some data from a source external to the computer, and an ability of the one or more identified applications to start on the computer absent user input requesting or authorizing use of such an application is disabled. In some embodiments, the external source of data may, for example, comprise a remote database identifying potentially undesirable applications and/or a remote software reputation service. In some embodiments, a routine is executed that identifies one or more applications that consume resources of the computer without a benefit that justifies such consumption and that also identifies one or more resources or utilities that utilize the one or more applications. An ability of the one or more identified applications to start on the computer absent user input requesting or authorizing use of such an application is disabled, and an ability of the one or more resources or utilities to attempt to utilize the one or more applications absent user input requesting or authorizing such an attempt is also disabled.

Addressing system degradation by application disabling

Growing community of inventors

Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Keshava Prasad Subramanya