Patent ID: 6779109
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for use with a computer system having an operating system and a hard disk drive, wherein the hard disk drive is configured to have a boot engineering extension record (BEER) that comprises a BEER pointer that points to a SETMAX marker that defines a host protected area and indicate an end of a user-accessible area of the hard disk drive, for enlarging the user-accessible area of the hard disk drive, the method comprising the steps of:determining if the boot engineering extension record is present on the hard disk drive; if the boot engineering extension record is present, determining if free media space is available in the host protected area of the hard disk drive; if free media space is available in the host protected area of the hard disk drive, changing the BEER pointer to move the SETMAX marker and allocate additional media space on the hard disk drive for use as part of the user-accessible area; and moving the end of file system marker to match the moved SETMAX marker to set the enlarged user-accessible area of the hard disk drive.