The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 06, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 13, 1994
Brian A Reynolds, Redmond, WA (US);
Pierre-Yves Santerre, Bellevue, WA (US);
Darryl S Richman, Bellevue, WA (US);
Ralph A Lipe, Woodinville, WA (US);
Robert M McKaughan, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and system are disclosed for invoking a limited or 'fail-safe' functionality from a computer system having a graphical user interface (GUI). In one aspect, a computer operating system having GUI functionality can be activated with two different sets of GUI features. Normally, the operating system provides a full complement of GUI features. Alternatively, the operating system provides a more limited set of GUI features. The operating system invokes the limited set of GUI features either in response to a user command, such as a keyboard function key pressed during the bootstrap loading sequence of the operating system, or automatically in response to a failure of an attempt by the computer system to load the normal complement of GUI functions. With the limited set of GUI features, the user of the computer can take advantage of the power of graphical user interfaces even when the computer system is not operating normally. For example, the user can run graphically based diagnostic and repair programs from the 'fail-safe' mode. The invention finds application in stand-alone and networked computer systems and, in particular, in systems that store the bulk of the operating system software on a remote server accessible only by network.