Apparatus, method and program product for selectively starting one of a plurality of operating systems and secondary storage according to whether or not a predetermined peripheral is connected to the system

1. A portable computing device, comprising:

computer data storage elements in the portable computing device which store a BIOS and a plurality of operating systems; and

a CPU operatively communicating with said storage elements; said storage elements and said CPU cooperating in execution of the BIOS in such a manner that, upon starting the apparatus, said CPU under the control of the BIOS recognizes the configuration of any associated hardware selects a first operating system in the plurality of operating systems and powers a secondary storage on when the portable computing device is recognized as being coupled to a docking station and selects a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the portable computing device is recognized as being used as a stand-alone device.

2. The portable computing device of claim 1 being a personal digital assistant.

3. The portable computing device of claim 1 , wherein the CPU under the control of the BIOS is configured to recognize the configuration of any associated hardware and start a selected one operating system stored in said storage elements in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration upon initiating the portable computing device from a standby state.

4. The portable computing device of claim 1 , wherein, if the first operating system is selected, at least a portion of the second operating system is stored in a non-volatile sleeping memory.

5. A method of controlling a computer comprising the steps of:

recognizing the hardware configuration of the computer as the computer starts up; and

starting a first operating system of a plurality of operating systems stored the computer and powering a secondary storage on when the computer is recognized as being coupled to a clocking station or starting a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the computer is recognized as being used as a stand-alone device, and wherein said step of recognizing a hardware configuration comprises a step of acquiring a device ID from a predetermined peripheral device, and said step of starting first or second operating system comprises a step of determining which operating system to start in accordance with said acquired device ID.

6. The method of claim 5 , where the computer is a personal digital assistant.

7. A program product comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on said medium and effective when executing to control the startup of a portable computer, said program instructions causing the portable computer to perform the processes of:

recognizing the portable computer's hardware configuration as the portable computer starts up; and

selectively starting a first operating system of a plurality of operating systems stored in the portable computer and powering a secondary storage on when the portable computing device is coupled to a docking station or a second operating system in the plurality of operating systems without powering said secondary storage on when the portable computing device is used as a stand-alone device.

8. A program product comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on said medium and effective when executing to control the startup of a computer system, said program instructions causing the computer to perform the processes of:

recognizing a system's hardware configuration as the system starts up; and

selectively starting one of a plurality of operating systems in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration, and wherein said process of starting up an operating system comprises the processes of:

determining which operating system should be started according to whether a predetermined peripheral device is connected to its own system;

if said peripheral device is connected, powering a secondary storage on and starting the determined operating system;

if said peripheral device is not connected, starting the determined operating system without powering said storage on.

9. A computing device, comprising:

computer data storage elements in the computing device which store a BIOS and a plurality of operating systems; and

a CPU operatively communicating with said storage elements; said storage elements and said CPU cooperating in execution of the BIOS in such a maimer that, upon starting the apparatus, said CPU under the control of the BIOS performs the following operations:

recognizes a hardware configuration of the computing device as the computing device starts up;

selectively starts one of the plurality of operating systems in accordance with the recognized hardware configuration and wherein said process of starting up an operating system comprises the acts of:

determining which operating system should be started according to whether a predetermined peripheral device is connected to its own system;

if said peripheral device is connected, powering a secondary storage on and starling, the determined operating system;

if said peripheral device is now connected, starting the determined operating system without powering said storage on.