TW201327388A - Electronic device and method for updating an operating system thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device and a method for updating an operating system thereof are provided. The electronic device includes a storage device and a processor. The operating system (OS) of the electronic device is installed on the storage device. The processor is coupled to the storage device. When updating the OS, the processor checks whether one or more applications installed by the user exist in the OS or not. When such applications exist, the processor packs the applications, store the packed applications into another storage device as backup, and then update the OS, retrieve the backup, and then re-install the applications based on the backup. In addition, the electronic device can store user data as backup and then restore the user data after updating the OS.

Description

Electronic device and its operating system update method

The present invention relates to an electronic device and an operating system updating method thereof, and more particularly to an application and user data when an electronic device and its operating system are updated.

Mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets are now well developed and widely used. Operating system updates are an indispensable feature of this type of information product, and vendors can use this feature to provide users with new features or bug fixes. On the other hand, the general mobile device also provides the user to install additional applications to expand the practicality of the mobile device. For example, users can purchase various applications in their online application store and install them on their mobile devices. However, updates to the operating system can be devastating and can cause users to install their own applications. Therefore, when updating the operating system, the application downloaded and installed by the user should also be processed to prevent the loss caused by the update.

For the processing of the application downloaded by the user, the existing design usually requires the user to use the relevant software to back up the data. The usual practice is to use the data synchronization software to record the application downloaded by the user. In this way, the application purchased by the user must be recorded on the computer. After the system update is completed, the application is installed back to the mobile device. Although the above method can completely ensure that the application downloaded by the user will not be lost, the user must operate the computer separately and the experience is not good.

Some mobile devices place the user-downloaded application on a separate disk partition to avoid the above problem, but this must determine the system partition and user partition in advance. The size of the ) will be less flexible. In addition, this method must be used to specify the directory where the application is placed. This method cannot be used for an operating system without such a specification or a separately installed system library.

Some operating systems also record user-installed applications in the cloud. However, if the user has no network to use, they will not be able to respond to the application that the user has installed, and the experience is not good.

In addition, when updating the operating system of the mobile device, the user data in the operating system must also be protected in case the data may be lost during the update.

For the protection of user data, the existing method is usually to use the data synchronization software, synchronize the user data to other computers or cloud servers, or connect the mobile device to a general computer, and you can see the data in the mobile device. Move by yourself.

The disadvantage of the above method is that the data synchronization software may have a long time for data synchronization. When the system of the mobile device is updated, the user is required to move the data by himself, which is not only troublesome but may be missed, and the use experience is not good. Some mobile devices will put the user data on the external memory card to avoid the above problems, but for the increasing storage space of the mobile device, the external memory card may not be used, which is not a reasonable way.

The invention provides an electronic device and an operating system updating method thereof, which can protect the application program and the user data from being lost when the operating system is updated, and make the operating system update process more convenient and more suitable for the user's needs.

The invention provides a method for updating an operating system, comprising the steps of: checking whether an operating system of an electronic device has an application installed by a user; when such an application exists, backing up the application; updating the operating system; and then retrieving Back up the above application and reinstall the above application using the above backup.

The invention further provides an electronic device comprising a storage device and a processor. The operating system of the above electronic device is mounted on the above storage device. The processor is coupled to the storage device for checking whether the operating system has a user-installed application when updating the operating system. When the application exists, the processor is configured to backup the application to another storage device and then update The operating system, then retrieve the application's backup and reinstall the application using the backup above.

In an embodiment of the invention, the electronic device and the operating system update method may also back up the user data first, and then restore the user data after updating the operating system.

Based on the above, the present invention can automatically back up the application and user data before updating the operating system of the electronic device, and automatically restore the application and user data using the backup after updating the operating system. Therefore, the present invention can avoid the problem that the application and user data may be lost in the conventional system update.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The electronic device 100 can be any electronic device that can install an operating system and an application, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, or a personal computer. The electronic device 100 includes a processor 120 and a storage device 140. The processor 120 is coupled to the storage device 140, and the operating system of the electronic device 100 is installed in the storage device 140.

2 is a flow chart of a method for updating an operating system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. This method can be performed by the processor 120 of the electronic device 100.

The method flow of FIG. 2 is described below. First, the processor 120 communicates with a server on the network to detect an updated version of the operating system (step 210). The processor 120 then checks if there is at least one application installed by the user in the operating system (step 220). If such an application does not exist, the flow proceeds directly to step 240. If such an application exists, the processor 120 backs up the application to another storage device different from the storage device 140 (step 230) to prevent the application from being lost during the update process. The processor 120 can package all the files and data of each application into a single file, like a single file downloaded by the previous user when the application is installed, in order to store the backup.

Next, the processor 120 updates the operating system of the electronic device 100 (step 240). The processor 120 can download the file required for updating the operating system from the server, and the processor 120 can also update the operating system when downloading the update file to save the storage space of the storage device 140.

Next, the processor 120 checks if there is an application backup as described above (step 250). If the above application backup does not exist, the update of the operating system is now complete. If the above application backup exists, the processor 120 retrieves the backup of the application from the other storage device described above, and reinstalls each of the applications using the backup of each application (step 260), the operating system The update is now complete.

The steps of Figure 2 are performed entirely automatically, without requiring the user to perform additional operations.

At step 230, the processor 120 backs up all of the above applications to another storage device different from the storage device 140. Another storage device of step 230 may be storage device 160 as shown in FIG. The storage device 160 of FIG. 3 is also included in the electronic device 100, and the storage device 160 is coupled to the processor 120. The storage devices 140 and 160 may be two different physical devices, or may be two separate parts of the same physical device, such as different partitions of the same hard disk.

Another storage device of step 230 may also be storage device 160 as shown in FIG. The storage device 160 is located outside the electronic device 100. Therefore, in step 230, the processor 120 prompts the user to provide the storage device 160, for example, connects the storage device 160 to the electronic device 100, or provides a URL of the storage device 160, so that the processor 120 can establish The connection between the electronic device 100 and the storage device 160. The storage device 160 can be an external storage device or a remote storage device located in the network or the cloud, such as an external hard disk, a network hard disk, or a personal computer connected to the electronic device 100.

Whether the storage device 160 is an internal device as shown in FIG. 3 or an external device as shown in FIG. 4, the storage device 160 is not affected by the operating system update of the storage device 140, so the application backed up in the storage device 160 is not lost. .

5 through 7 are flowcharts of a method of updating an operating system in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, which are all extensions of the method of FIG. The method of Figures 5 through 7 can also be performed by any electronic device that can be installed with operating systems and applications. In these embodiments, these methods are performed by processor 120 of electronic device 100, as explained below.

Steps 210 to 260 among the flows of FIGS. 5 to 7 are the same as those of FIG. 2, and the description thereof will not be repeated below.

In the method flow of FIG. 5, when the processor 120 finds that no user-installed application exists in step 220, or after performing step 230, the user is asked whether to back up the user data stored in the storage device 140 (steps). 510). User data refers to data generated by the user using the electronic device 100, such as working files generated by the application, settings of the application, and user's own storage in the electronic device 100 or downloaded from the Internet. Archives and more. If the user does not want to back up the user profile, the processor 120 proceeds directly to step 240 to update the operating system. If the user wants to back up the user profile, the processor 120 first backs up the user profile in the storage device 160 (step 520) to avoid being lost during the update, and then proceeds to step 240 to update the operating system.

In the method flow of FIG. 5, when the processor 120 finds that there is no backup application at step 250, or after performing step 260, it checks whether there is backup user data (step 530). If there is no backup user profile, the operating system update of Figure 5 is now complete. If there is a backup user profile, the processor 120 retrieves the previously backed up user profile from the storage device 160 and restores the user profile at the storage device 140 (step 540). The processor 120 can save the user data back to the original directory before the backup to restore the user data.

As previously mentioned, the storage device 160 is not affected by the operating system update of the storage device 140, so the user data backed up at the storage device 160 is not lost.

In the method flow of FIG. 6, when the processor 120 finds that there is no user-installed application in step 220, or after performing step 230, the user is prompted to select which user data to back up (step 610), and then store In the user profile of the storage device 140, the portion selected by the user is backed up in the storage device 160 (step 620) to avoid loss at the time of the update, and then the process system is updated to step 240. The user can choose not to back up any data in step 610. In this case, step 620 does not perform any processing, and the flow directly proceeds to step 240.

In the method flow of FIG. 6, when the processor 120 finds that there is no backup application in step 250, or after performing step 260, it checks whether there is backup user data, that is, the user selects in the previous step 610. The backed up user profile (step 630). If the above backup user profile does not exist, the operating system update of Figure 6 is completed. If the backup user profile exists, the processor 120 retrieves from the storage device 160 the portion of the user profile that is selected by the user to be backed up in step 610, and restores the portion of the user profile in the storage device 140 (step 640). ). The operating system update method of FIG. 6 is relatively flexible, allowing the user to set which data to be backed up or directly deleted without reservation.

The operating system update method of FIG. 7 is applicable to the case where the update of the operating system does not damage the user profile, and the update method can update the operating system when the space of the storage device 140 is insufficient.

In the method flow of FIG. 7, when the processor 120 finds that there is no user-installed application in step 220, or after performing step 230, it checks whether the storage space of the storage device 140 is sufficient to update the operating system (step 710). If the storage space is sufficient, the processor 120 directly updates the operating system to step 240. If the storage space of the storage device 140 is insufficient to update the operating system, the processor 120 backs up the user data stored in the storage device 140 in the storage device 160, and deletes the backed up user data in the storage device 140 until storage. The storage space of device 140 is sufficient to update the operating system (step 720). Processor 120 then updates the operating system at step 240. In this embodiment, it is not necessary to back up all the user data, and only the storage space backed up to the storage device 140 is sufficiently updated.

In the method flow of FIG. 7, when the processor 120 finds that there is no backup application at step 250, or after performing step 260, it checks whether there is previously backed up user profile (step 730). If there is no previously backed up user profile, the operating system update of Figure 7 is now complete. If there is previously backed up user profile, the processor 120 retrieves the backed up portion of the user profile from the storage device 160 and restores the backed up portion at the storage device 140 (step 740), the operating system update of FIG. This is the end.

In summary, the present invention automatically backs up the user-installed application and user profile before updating the operating system, and automatically restores the application and user profile after the update. The invention can avoid the loss of the application program and the user data during the update process, and can also reduce the user operation and shorten the update time of the operating system.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100. . . Electronic device

120. . . processor

140, 160. . . Storage device

210~260, 510~540, 610~640, 710~740. . . Process step

1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a flow chart of a method for updating an operating system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4 are schematic views of an electronic device in accordance with two embodiments of the present invention.

5 through 7 are flowcharts of a method of updating an operating system in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

210~260. . . Process step

Claims (10)

An operating system updating method includes: checking whether an operating system of an electronic device has at least one application installed by a user; when the application exists, backing up the application; updating the operating system; and retrieving Back up the app and reinstall the app using that backup. The operating system update method of claim 1, further comprising: backing up a user profile before updating the operating system; and the operating system update method further comprises: after the step of reinstalling the application: Retrieve and restore the user profile. The operating system update method of claim 1, further comprising: backing up a portion selected by the user in a user profile before updating the operating system; and the operating system update method is reinstalling the After the steps of the application, the method further includes: retrieving and restoring the part of the user profile. The operating system updating method of claim 1, wherein the operating system is installed in a storage device of the electronic device, and the operating system updating method further comprises: checking the storage before the step of updating the operating system Whether the storage space of the device is sufficient to update the operating system; and if the storage space of the storage device is insufficient to update the operating system, backing up a user data stored in the storage device in batches, and deleting the backed up user data Until the storage space of the storage device is sufficient to update the operating system; and the operating system update method further comprises: retrieving and restoring the backed up portion of the user data after the step of reinstalling the application. An electronic device includes: a first storage device, wherein an operating system is installed in the first storage device; and a processor coupled to the first storage device for checking whether the operating system exists and is installed by a user At least one application; when the application exists, the processor is used to back up the application to a second storage device, update the operating system, then retrieve the backup of the application, and reinstall the backup using the backup The app. The electronic device of claim 5, further comprising the second storage device, wherein the second storage device is coupled to the processor. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the second storage device is located outside the electronic device, and the processor prompts the user to provide the second storage device. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the processor backs up a user data stored in the first storage device to the second storage device before updating the operating system, and reinstalls the application The user data is retrieved from the second storage device, and the user data is restored at the first storage device. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the processor stores the portion selected by the user in a user profile of the first storage device in the second storage before updating the operating system The device retrieves the portion of the user profile from the second storage device after reinstalling the application and restores the portion at the first storage device. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the processor checks whether the storage space of the first storage device is sufficient to update the operating system before updating the operating system; if the storage space of the first storage device is insufficient Updating the operating system, the processor backs up a user data stored in the first storage device in batches in the second storage device, and deletes the backed up user data in the first storage device until the The storage space of the first storage device is sufficient to update the operating system; after reinstalling the application, the processor retrieves the backed up portion of the user data from the second storage device and restores the first storage device This part.