Patent ID: 6565443
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: A63F,G06F

Abstract:
A method for verifying the contents of a mass storage device attached to a computing system having a processor and system random access memory, the mass storage device having a plurality of data files containing computer readable data stored therein, the method comprising:storing onto the mass storage device a plurality of user data files containing software modules and corresponding data used to control the operation of the computing system; storing onto the mass storage device a mass storage verification module having a set of computer executable instructions for use in verifying the contents of the mass storage device, the mass storage verification module having one or more data files associated therewith; storing onto the mass storage device a mass storage verification data within a mass storage verification data file, the mass storage verification data file having an individual set of verification data corresponding to each data file stored within the mass storage device for use in verifying the contents of the mass storage device; and before permitting an initial access to the computer readable data from the mass storage device, verifying the contents of the mass storage device by executing the instructions contained within the mass storage verification module to generate a set of computed verification data for each data file stored within the mass storage device; comparing the set of computed verification data for each data file on the mass storage device with the corresponding individual sets of mass storage verification data contained within the mass storage verification data file; permitting additional access to the computer readable data stored on the mass storage device only if each of the sets of computed verification data exactly matches the corresponding individual sets of mass storage verification data contained within the mass storage verification data file; wherein the set of computed verification data comprises a file name, a file starting location on the mass storage device, a file size, and a CRC checksum for each file stored on the mass storage device.