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:
Mar. 26, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 30, 1998
Applicant:
Inventors:
Don R. James, Jr., Cypress, TX (US);
Randall L. Hess, Cypress, TX (US);
Jeffrey D. Kane, Spring, TX (US);
Assignee:
Compaq Computer Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 1/100 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 1/100 ;
Abstract
An apparatus and method to force the computer system to boot from the boot block. During a computer system power-up and initialization, the computer system determines if the escape key is pressed. If so, the computer system will boot from the code in the boot block, proceeding as if the flash ROM is corrupted. This forces the computer system to boot from the boot block even though the system determines that the flash ROM is not corrupt, allowing the user to flash a ROM at the user's discretion.