Computer system with improved write cache and method therefor

1. Method of operating a computer system with a central processing unit and a hard disk system coupled with the central processor, the method comprising the steps of:

partitioning the hard disk into at least a bootable partition comprising a boot image of an operating system and a second partition;

determining a write protection for the bootable partition;

creating a mirrored image of the boot image on the second partition;

using the second partition as a write cache thereby maintaining the bootable partition;

if a write protection is not set, then flushing the write cache to the bootable partition during a shutdown procedure, wherein a user can select whether the write cache is flushed to the bootable partition or not.

2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein write operations modifying a operating system are cached on the second partition.

3. Method according to claim 1 , wherein write operations modifying an application are cached on the second partition.

4. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps are implemented in a driver.

5. Method according to claim 4 , wherein the driver is part of the basic input/output system.

6. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of using the second partition as a write cache comprises the steps of:

performing a read operation from the bootable partition;

replacing data from the read operation if respective data has been written to the second partition.

7. Computer system comprising:

a central processing unit;

a hard disk system comprising at least one hard disk partitioned to provide a bootable partition comprising a boot image of an operating system and a second partition;

a write protection means for the bootable partition;

a hard disk driver for accessing the hard disk wherein the second partition comprises a mirrored image of the boot image and operates as a write cache for the bootable partition and;

means for performing a flush operation if the first partition is not write protected, wherein a user can select whether the write cache is flushed to the bootable partition or not.

8. Computer system according to claim 7 , further comprising a solid state write cache.

9. Computer system according to claim 8 , further comprising a solid state write-through cache.

10. Method for providing a hard disk driver for a partitioned hard disk comprising the steps of:

using a first partition as a bootable partition comprising a boot image of an operating system;

using a second partition as write cache for the first partition wherein the second partition comprises a mirrored image of the boot image and cannot be accessed by the operating system,

if a write protection is not set, then flushing the write cache to the bootable partition during a shutdown procedure, wherein a user can select whether the write cache is flushed to the bootable partition or not.

11. Method as in claim 10 , further comprising the steps of:

performing a read access from the first partition; and

performing a write access to the second partition.

12. Method according to claim 10 , wherein a read access is performed by reading a plurality of sectors from the first partition and replacing any sector that has been store on the second partition by a respective sector from the second partition.

13. Method according to claim 11 , wherein the first partition is write protected.