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:
Jan. 04, 2005
Filed:
Jan. 08, 2001
Susan Adele Nunn, Austin, TX (US);
Myphuong Nguyenphu, Austin, TX (US);
Susan Adele Nunn, Austin, TX (US);
MyPhuong NguyenPhu, Austin, TX (US);
Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
A method for limiting the duration of EIDE hard drive diagnostic testing to a predetermined length of time is described. When queried by the BIOS to acquire the testing capabilities of an EIDE hard drive in a computer, the support or non-support of extended diagnostic testing and the length of time needed to complete such testing is returned to the BIOS. In a preferred embodiment, upon receipt of the aforementioned information, the BIOS examines the length of time needed to complete the testing and then allows the testing to begin only if the length of time is less than some predetermined length of time, e.g., one hour. If the length of time is greater than the predetermined length of time, the user is informed that the extended diagnostic testing would take longer than the predetermined length of time and the test is aborted.