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, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 19, 1999
Thomas Vrhel, Jr., Austin, TX (US);
Gary D. Huber, Austin, TX (US);
Dell USA, L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
A method and system for integrated support for solving problems with personal computer systems comprises monitoring operating system functionality to determine if a computer system failure exists, to identify the computer system failure and to provide a solution of the computer system failure. A robust user interface, including a simple-to-use user button interface, supports single touch user input to indicate a computer system problem or question. Watchdog timers compare the time of hardware and operating system functionality, such as boot sequence operation, against predetermined time periods to determine whether or not a computer failure exists. A computer system failure is determined if a watchdog timer expires upon completion of a predetermined time period without being cleared. A hardware problem is identified on initial boot if the watchdog timer is not cleared by an operating system service routine. An operating system hang-up is determined if a watchdog timer is not cleared by an application run in association with the operating system. If a computer failure is detected, a service mode is initiated with a service mode operating system to allow in-depth analysis and problem resolution. Service mode operation is also monitored to detect problems.