Patent Application
20070271438
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
The accessible partition is further divided into a master partition 111, where an OS may be stored, and a slave partition 112, where software and a predetermined data file may be stored. The master partition 111 may be created as a minimal size partition when a master disk is created and may be understood as partition C. The creation of the master disk refers to a process of installing an OS in the master partition 111. The master partition 111 may be augmented according to the size of the slave partition 112. Any data may be stored in the master partition 111 and the slave partition 112.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the slave partition 112 may not be allocated in the first HDD 110, in order to augment the master partition 111 or to be partitioned later. The slave partition 112 may be divided into a predetermined number of partitions according to user configuration or may augment the master partition 111. A reboot is not required when the maximum space on the HDD 110 is saved for the non-allocated slave partition 112 prior to partitioning the HDD 110.
File information is not displayed in an explorer window in the inaccessible partition so that the user cannot access it. As a result, it is difficult for the user to make any modifications to the inaccessible partition. The inaccessible partition can be further divided into a hidden partition 113 storing fingerprint-detection information and XPE MIO and a host protected area (HPA) 114 used for specific applications. Data included in the hidden partition 113 and the HPA 114 may include other data and may further include any number of hidden partitions. In addition, the HPA 114 is reserved regardless of OS and may be used by an application that automatically backs up and protects the OS, other applications, and data. The HPA 114 can be, for example, a static restore partition.
The hidden partition 113 and the HPA 114 may be recognized as a primary partition. The slave partition 112 may also be recognized as the primary partition. In a commonly used OS, a total of four partitions are available. For that OS, if there are four primary partitions already in the first HDD 110, the slave partition 112 may be indivisible. Other operating systems may have a different maximum number of partitions.
While not required, one or more of the input unit 210, the state check unit 220, the storage medium checking unit 230, the hidden partition checking unit 240, the partition execution unit 250, and the controller 260 can be implemented in one or more modules. The term “module” includes, but is not limited to, a software or hardware component, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which executes certain tasks. A module may advantageously be configured to reside in the addressable storage medium, and configured to execute on one or more processors. Thus, a module may include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided for in the components and modules may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules.
The input unit 210 receives generated input signals, such as from a user. The generated input signals refer to signals generated when user-registration information and partition-configuration information is input by the user. However, it is understood that the input signals could be otherwise generated.
The state-check unit 220 checks the state of the master partition 111. The state may be classified into a stand-by state, where the master partition 111 has not been booted yet, and an in-progress state, where user registration has been completed since an initial boot. In this case, a point of time at which partition is executed is determined based on the state of the master partition 111.
The storage-medium-checking unit 230 checks the number of available storage media (e.g. a second HDD, a CD-ROM, and other removable storage medium), which is performed in order to reassign drive letters for user convenience once the partition has been executed.
The hidden-partition-checking unit 240 checks the number of hidden partitions (e.g. the hidden partition 113 and the HPA 114) in the first HDD 110 in order to check whether the partition can be executed when the master partition 111 is in the in-progress state. An OS may have a maximum number of partitions (such as four) and each hidden partition may be recognized as a primary partition. Accordingly, the checking of the hidden partitions is performed in order to determine whether the slave partition 112 can be divided. If the first HDD 110 has been already divided into four primary partitions or if it has been divided into three primary partitions but there is a possibility that an additional partition will be created due to some programs installed on a system, the slave partition 112 may be indivisible.
The partition-execution unit 250 executes the partition of the slave partition 112 based on partition-configuration information (e.g. the number of partitions and the size thereof input by the user. In addition, the partition-execution unit 250 reassigns the drive letters order as follows (although other orders are possible). The order of the storage medium (excluding the master partition 111) is the HDD (e.g., the slave partition 112 of the first HDD 110 and the second HDD), the CD-ROM, and other removable storage media.
For example, assuming that the accessible partition is 50 Gb and the master partition 111 is 10 Gb, if the user divides the accessible partition into two partitions through the partition-configuration screen and specifies a size of 30 Gb for the newly divided partitions, the partition-execution unit 250 divides the partition of the slave partition 112 according to the user configuration. The user-configured partition 30 Gb is subtracted from the overall size of the slave partition 112 (e.g. 40 Gb) and is added to the master partition 111. As a result, the master partition 111 is increased to 20 Gb. The accessible partition is divided into the master partition (e.g. 20 Gb) and the slave partition (e.g. 30 Gb).
The partition-execution unit 250 initializes all drive letters, except for the master partition 111 (i.e., partition C), and reassigns the drive letter order based on the newly divided partitions. For example, the slave partition 112 may be set to partition D.
The controller 260 formats the newly divided partitions in the form of a random file. The controller 260 controls the operation of the input unit 210, the state-checking unit 220, the storage medium checking unit 230, the hidden-partition checking unit 240, and the partition-execution unit 250.
Conversely, if the user wishes to set up the first HDD 110 as two partitions, the user selects “2” in PARTITION NUMBER 310 on the partition-configuration screen 300 and specifies a partition size (e.g. 20 G) in PARTITION SIZE 320. A part of the slave partition 112 is then divided into a desired number in a desired size (e.g., 20 G), which is set by the user, and the rest of the slave partition 112 is combined with the master partition 111. Accordingly, two partitions, the master partition 111 and the slave partition 112, exist in the first HDD 110. An additional boot is not required.
The state-check unit 220 checks the state of the master partition 111 (S410). The state of the master partition 111 is divided into a stand-by state in which the master partition 111 has not been booted yet and an in-progress state in which user registration has been completed since an initial boot.
If the master partition 111 is in the in-progress state (S420), the hidden-partition-checking unit 240 checks the number of hidden partitions existing in the master partition 111 of the first HDD 110 S430. The OS may have a maximum number of partitions (e.g., four) and each hidden partition may be recognized as a primary partition. Accordingly, the checking of the hidden partitions is performed in order to determine whether a slave partition 112 can be divided. If the result of the checking shows that the number of a primary partition is less than four (S440), partition-configuration information is input by the user.
When the user requests the execution of a partition through a partition-configuration screen 300 (S450), the input unit 210 transmits the partition-configuration information input by the user to the controller 260. The partition-execution unit 250 checks the partition-configuration information input by the user (S460). If the result of the checking of the partition-configuration information shows that the number of to-be-allocated partitions input by the user is two or more (S470), the partition-execution unit 250 divides the slave partition 112 into the number of the partitions configured by the user (S480). Otherwise, the master partition 111 is augmented (S500).
The partition-execution unit 250 reassigns the drive letters order after the completion of the partition S490. The storage-medium-checking unit 230 checks the number of storage media (e.g., a second HDD, a CD-ROM, or other removable storage media) and gives the information thereof to the partition-execution unit 250 prior to the reassignment of the drive letters order. The partition-execution unit then repetitively reassigns the order based on information on the check storage media as follows: the HDD (e.g. the slave partition of the first HDD, and the second HDD), the CD-ROM, and other removable storage media. The controller 260 formats the newly divided partitions in the form of a random file.
Conversely, if the number of to-be-allocated partitions is less than two (S470), the partition-execution 250 combines the slave partition 112 with the master partition 111 to make the overall number of partition one, thereby augmenting the master partition 111 (S500).
If the result of the checking shows that the number of a primary partition is greater than three (S440), the slave partition cannot be divided. Accordingly, the partition-execution 250 combines the slave partition 112 with the master partition 111 to make the overall number of partition one, thereby augmenting the master partition 111 (S500).
if the master partition 111 is in the stand-by state (S420), the state-check unit 220 checks the state of the master partition 111 at a predetermined time interval (S410).
Accordingly, the user can partition the HDD into a desired number of partitions in a desired size when booting the partitioner 100 after the completion of user registration without requiring a reboot.
First, the user inputs the number of partitions to be created and the size thereof through a partition-configuration screen 300 when dividing the accessible partition into two. When the user sets the size of the partition-to-be-created to 30 Gb, the partition-execution unit 250 computes the available space (e.g. 10 Gb) by subtracting the size set by the user (e.g. 30 G) from the size of a slave partition 112 (e.g. 40 Gb). The user then combines the calculated size (e.g. 10 Gb) with the master partition 111. Accordingly, the master partition increases to 20 Gb and the newly allocated partition is 30 Gb. Excluding the master partition 111, the order of drive letters may be reassigned as follows: the HDD (e.g., the slave partition of a first HDD and a second HDD), a CD-ROM, and other removable storage media. The new partitions may be formatted in the form of a random file. Accordingly, the user can partition the HDD into a desired number in a desired size when booting the partitioner 100 according to partition-configuration information without requiring a reboot.
As described above, according to an apparatus and method for partitioning a HDD without requiring a reboot, the following effects can be anticipated. First, the present invention is advantageous in that when a user boots a partitioner, a HDD can be divided into a desired number of partitions of a desired size without requiring a reboot after the completion of user registration. Second, the present invention is also advantageous in that the time required for the partitioning process can be reduced because the partition has been enlarged or a first HDD has an additional space arranged for a new partition. Third, the present invention is advantageous in that drive letters are reassigned to HDD, CD-ROM, and removable disk, respectively, after the completion of the partition for user convenience.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-44414 | May 2006 | KR | national |
