Abstract: A method allows manipulation of disk partitions defined by an IBM-compatible partition table. The disk partitions may be located on one or more disks attached to one or more disk drives. Each partition has an associated file system type, such as FAT or HPFS. An interrupted manipulation may be resumed at a point in the progress of the manipulation near the point of interruption. Available manipulations include verifying the integrity of a partition's file system structures; displaying information about a partition; moving a partition to a different location; resizing a partition; and converting a partition from one file system to another file system. The resizing step is illustrated with particular reference to HPFS file systems and FAT file systems. The details required to perform these manipulations are attended to by an implementing program that requires only general direction from a user.

Abstract: Methods, devices, and systems are provided in a multi-level computer architecture which provides improved capabilities for managing courseware and other content in a shared use operating environment such as a computer network. In particular, the invention provides a commercial networked instruction content delivery method and system which does not exclude synchronous sharing but is focused on asynchronous sharing. Security in the architecture provide content property holdlers with the ability to know how many minutes of use an individual made of licensed material and with increased certainty that their material cannot be used, copied, or sold in usable form unless and until a user site is connected or reconnected to a minute-by-minute counter which is located off the premises of the user. This security link helps protect software and other works which are being sold or licensed to an individual, organization, or entity, and creates income opportunities for owners of such content.

Abstract: A new type of magneto-electronic element, such as a spin transistor or hybrid hall effect device, can be used to construct memory systems to replace conventional cache, primary, secondary and long term (archival) storage. The magneto-electronic element is non-volatile, and has switching speeds and integration densities that compare favorably with conventional semiconductor random access memories, such as DRAM. In another embodiment, an integrated memory system may be constructed that synthesizes one or more previously disparate levels of conventional memory (i.e., a combination of primary and secondary storage) so that memory organization is further simplified and performance and cost are improved.