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:
Oct. 12, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 02, 1996
Mahmoud Assaf, Sioux City, IA (US);
Gateway 2000, Inc., North Sioux City, SD (US);
Abstract
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.