Computer network and connection method for connecting a personal computer and a content delivery system using a disk drive which includes a network address and server-contacting program

1. A method of establishing a connection between a personal computer system and a content delivery server, the personal computer system including a computing subsystem and a disk drive, the method comprising:

providing a network address for the content delivery server;

providing a server-contacting program;

storing the network address and the server-contacting program in the disk drive; and

installing firmware having disk drive executable code in the disk drive to initiate execution of the server-contacting program after the disk drive is connected to the computing subsystem in the personal computer system;

wherein execution of the server contacting program includes using the network address for connecting the personal computer system to the content delivery server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the disk drive includes a protected area; and

the network address and the server-contacting program are stored in the protected area.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the firmware resides in a disk controller circuit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the firmware automatically initiates execution of the server-contacting program when the disk drive is connected to the computing subsystem in the personal computer system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the firmware delays initiating execution of the server-contacting program until a predetermined period has lapsed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the firmware delays initiating execution of the server-contacting program until the firmware determines that a selected number of monitored events exceeds a threshold.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the monitored events includes the number of boot-ups in the computing subsystem.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the personal computer system receives content data from the content delivery server and subsequently displays the content during a boot sequence.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the content of the displayed content data is periodically changed.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the content data is selected from the group comprising: a content display program, a game, an entertainment program, a utility program, entertainment data, advertisement data, and music data.

11. A computer network, comprising:

a content delivery server having a network address; and

a personal computer system comprising a computing subsystem and a disk drive, wherein the disk drive comprises:

a network address;

a server-contacting program; and

a disk controller circuit having disk drive executable code for initiating execution of the server-contacting program after the disk drive is connected to the computing subsystem in the personal computer system, wherein execution of the server-contacting program includes the using the network address for connecting the personal computer system to the content delivery server.

12. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein the disk controller circuit initiates the execution of the server-contacting program upon the occurrence of a selected condition that is determined by the disk controller circuit.

13. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein:

the disk drive includes a protected area; and

the network address and the server-contacting program are stored in the protected area.

14. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein the disk controller circuit automatically initiates execution of the server-contacting program when the disk drive is connected to the computing subsystem in the personal computer system.

15. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein the disk controller circuit delays initiating execution of the server-contacting program until a predetermined period has lapsed.

16. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein the disk controller circuit delays initiating execution of the server-contacting program until the disk controller circuit determines that a selected number of monitored events exceeds a threshold.

17. The computer network of claim 16 , wherein the monitored events includes the number of boot-ups in the computing subsystem.

18. The computer network of claim 11 , wherein the personal computer system receives content data from the content delivery server and subsequently displays the content during a boot sequence.

19. The computer network of claim 18 , wherein the content of the displayed content data is periodically changed.

20. The computer network of claim 19 , wherein the content data is selected from the group comprising: a content display program, a game, an entertainment program, a utility program, entertainment data, advertisement data, and music data.