International Business Machines Corporation

Roger Philip Hoggarth

Richard Ian Knox

Howard J Locker

David Benson Rhoades

Richard Wayne Cheston

Colin David McCall

Andrew Liam Massey

Sohail Syyed

In a laptop computer having a display, a matrix of touch-sensitive keys, and a TrackPoint&reg; device for generating cursor and function selection on display is embedded centrally among the keys. The TrackPoint&reg; has a removable cap into which the joystick can be mechanically and electrically coupled. This permits stable platform joystick operation, especially where the computer executes programs involving a joystick as an element of a simulated control interface.

Control post or joystick electromechanically engaging a keypad-centered pointer device for a laptop computer or the like

Methods of booting a client data processing system attached to a control data processing system in a data processing network. At power-on or re-boot of a client system, an initial program load request is issued from the client system onto the network and responsive to the receipt of the initial program load request at the control system, bootstrap code is transferred to the client to cause the client to boot from operating system code stored on a mass storage device of the client; alternatively, bootstrap code is transferred to the client system to cause the client to boot from operating system stored on a mass storage device of the client, or bootstrap code is transferred to cause the client system to boot from the control system.

Initial program load in data processing network

A method, system and computer program product in which half of the storage space on a non-volatile storage device is used to maintain a copy of the last 'known-good' copy of the operating system and on invocation by a user, restoring from this backup copy when, for example, the operating system has become corrupted due to changes made to settings or device drivers.

Method and system for recovering from operating system failure

Growing community of inventors

Ayrshire, United Kingdom

Roger Philip Hoggarth