Method and apparatus for fast boot of an operating system
A computer system is adapted for rapid booting to any one of plural contexts such as that of a desktop application or television application. The system may be booted to an initial state in one context by reading a write-protected hibernate file into RAM and registers. The system may be initialized into another context by means of that hibernate file in conjunction with a difference file.
1 . A method of booting a data processing system comprising:
providing plural state files in nonvolatile memory for restoring the system to respective states corresponding to plural processing applications; and
during booting of the system, selecting state file based a selected application in which the system is to operate.
2 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an state file is stored as a difference file relative to a base state file.
3 . A method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the base state file is stored in a hibernate files accessed during booting of the system.
4 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein applications to be selected include a desktop application and a television application.
5 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising protecting the state files against being overwritten during processing.
6 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the plural state files are provided by a system software installer.
7 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during startup.
8 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during prior processing.
9 . A data processing system comprising:
plural state files in nonvolatile memory for restoring the system to respective states corresponding to plural processing applications; and
booting software that selects a state file based on a selected application in which the system is to operate.
10 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein a state file is stored as a difference file relative to a base state file.
11 . A system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the base state file is stored in a hibernate files accessed during booting of the system.
12 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein applications to be selected include a desktop application and a television application.
13 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , further wherein the state files are protected against being overwritten during processing.
14 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the plural state files are provided by a system software installer.
15 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during startup.
16 . A system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during prior processing.
17 . A method of initializing a data processing system, comprising:
saving in nonvolatile memory a base state file for a base system state;
saving in nonvolatile memory a difference file relative to the base state file for a different system state; and
booting to the different system state by steering the system to the difference file and base state file to place volatile memory at an initial state.
18 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the state files are stored in hibernate files accessed during booting of the system.
19 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the system is steered based on a selected context.
20 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , further comprising protecting the state files against being overwritten during processing.
21 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the base state file and difference are provided by a system software installer.
22 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the system is booted to a system state based on a selected application.
23 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during startup.
24 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein a state file is selected based on user input during prior processing.
25 . A method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein a difference file is stored based on system state during processing.
26 . A method as claimed in claim 25 , wherein a difference file is replaced during system processing.
27 . A method as claimed in claim 25 , wherein a difference files is added during system processing.
28 . A method as claimed in claim 17 further comprising saving plural selectable difference files.
29 . A data processing system comprising:
a base state file stored in nonvolatile memory for a base system state;
a difference file relative to the base state file stored in nonvolatile memory for a different system state; and
a booting system to boot to the different system state by steering the system to the difference file and base state file to place volatile memory at an initial state.
30 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the base state file is stored in a hibernate file accessed during booting of the system.
31 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the system is steered based on a selected context.
32 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the state files are protected against being overwritten during processing.
33 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the base state file and difference file are provided by a system software installer.
34 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the system is booted to a system state based on a selected application.
35 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein a difference file is selected based on user input during startup.
36 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein a difference file is selected based on user input during prior processing.
37 . A system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein a difference file is stored based on system state during processing.
38 . A system as claimed in claim 37 , wherein a difference file is replaced during system processing.
39 . A system as claimed in claim 37 , wherein a difference file is added during system processing.
40 . A system as claimed in claim 29 further comprising plural selectable difference files stored in nonvolatile memory.