System and method for transferring personalization information among computer systems

1 . A method for transferring personalization information among computer systems, the method comprising:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer;

displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer; and

persisting into the storage of the removable device at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer includes:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a position and an identity of at least one of a plurality of icons displayed on the first screen image of the first computer.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

retrieving, from memory allocated to a program executing on the first computer, the position and the identity of at least one of a plurality of icons displayed on the first screen image of the first computer.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer includes:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, at least one of an email for the user, a web browser favorite for the user, wallpaper, a file, and a document for the user.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer includes:

determining whether at least one program corresponding to at least one icon of the first screen image is present on the second computer prior to displaying an icon of the first screen image at the second computer.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer includes:

providing at the second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the set of personalization information retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of similar information that otherwise would be provided on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein providing at the second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the set of personalization information retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of similar information that otherwise would be provided on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer includes:

providing at the second computer, at least one document from a “my documents” folder retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of at least one document from a “my documents” folder resident on the second computer once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein persisting into the storage of the removable device at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer includes:

making changes only to the personalization information in the storage of the removable device in place of similar information persisted in storage of the second computer.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein persisting into the storage of the removable device the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer includes:

persisting into the storage of the removable device the at least one change in accordance with controlling a version of the at least one change based upon a state of the first computer.

10 . A machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for transferring personalization information among computer systems, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer;

displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer; and

persisting into the storage of the removable device at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer.

11 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a position and an identity of at least one of a plurality of icons displayed on the first screen image of the first computer.

12 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 11 , further comprise instructions for carrying out the step of:

retrieving, from memory allocated to a program executing on the first computer, the position and the identity of at least one of a plurality of icons displayed on the first screen image of the first computer.

13 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, at least one of an email for the user, a web browser favorite for the user, wallpaper, a file, and a document for the user.

14 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

determining whether at least one program corresponding to at least one icon of the first screen image is present on the second computer prior to displaying an icon of the first screen image at the second computer.

15 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

providing at the second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the set of personalization information retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of similar information that otherwise would be provided on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer.

16 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 15 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of providing at the second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the set of personalization information retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of similar information that otherwise would be provided on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

providing at the second computer, at least one document from a “my documents” folder retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of at least one document from a “my documents” folder resident on the second computer once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer.

17 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of persisting into the storage of the removable device at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

making changes only to the personalization information in the storage of the removable device in place of similar information persisted in storage of the second computer.

18 . The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the instructions for carrying out the step of persisting into the storage of the removable device a sole indication of the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer once the removable device has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer, such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the removable device has been removed from the second computer include instructions for carrying out the step of:

persisting into the storage of the removable device the at least one change in accordance with controlling a version of the at least one change based upon a state of the first computer.

19 . An apparatus for transferring personalization information among computer systems, comprising:

an interface to connect with a computer; and

a storage,

into which a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer is persisted when the apparatus is coupled with the first computer via the interface; and

from which the first screen image may be retrieved, once the apparatus has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, for display in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer; and

into which at least one change made to the set of personalization information is persisted at the second computer to update the set of personalization information at the first computer such that the at least one change made to the set of personalization information at the second computer is not detectable at the second computer once the apparatus has been relocated from the second computer to the first computer.

20 . A method for transferring personalization information among computer systems, the method comprising:

persisting, into a storage of a removable device, a set of personalization information from a first computer determined to be of interest to a user and a first screen image of the first computer; and

displaying at a second computer, once the removable device has been relocated from the first computer to the second computer, the first screen image retrieved from the storage of the removable device in place of a second screen image that otherwise would be displayed on the second computer had the removable device not been attached to the second computer, and using the personalization information retrieved from the removable device in place of similar information stored on the second computer.