Patent ID: 7047402

Claim:
A process for controlling powering up a computer comprising a main processing subsystem involving a booting sequence with an alternate processing subsystem having quicker response time; said computer further comprising sharable Input/Output devices which assignment to said main or alternate processing subsystem is controlled by a first Main Power Control (MPC) key and a second Alternate Power Control (APC) key, said process comprising: booting said main processing subsystem and assigning said I/O devices to said main processing subsystem upon actuation on said MPC key, wherein an actuation of said MPC key, when the system is off, comprises: powering up both main and alternate processing subsystems; automatically synchronizing said main and alternate processing subsystems; initiating a work session and waiting for an actuation on said MPC or APC key; in response to the user actuating said APC key, causing the completion of said synchronization, then the switching of said I/O devices to said alternate processing subsystem, then followed by the power-off of said main processing subsystem; and in response to the user actuating said MPC key, causing the completion of said synchronization, then followed by the power-off of said main and said alternate processing subsystems; and substantially instantaneously switching said I/O devices to said alternate processing subsystem upon actuation of said APC key.