SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC INITIATION AND MANAGEMENT OF A GUEST OPERATING SYSTEM WHICH ENABLES A RESTRICTION OF ACCESS TO THE HOST MACHINE

摘要

A method of initiating and managing a virtual machine guest operating system which confines user interaction on a host computer to the guest operating system which is implemented on the host computer through software programs stored on a removable, non-volatile storage medium. In one embodiment, the storage medium includes a discrete alpha partition containing software through which the host computer initially boots and which is operative to immediately run a virtual machine and a discrete beta partition which includes a guest operating system and kiosk application software which are automatically run in the virtual machine. The storage medium is thereby configures the host computer to set up and run an alternative operating system and runtime environment which restricts all user interface activity on the host computer to the alternative operating system environment.

主权项

1. A method of initiating and managing an alternative operating system on a host computer which limits the activity on the host computer to the alternative operating system environment, comprising the steps of:
availing to a host computer having a host processor and a non-transitory memory a removable, non-volatile storage medium which includes software containing instructions executable by a computer processor; loading and initializing by said host processor a host operating system on the host computer, wherein said host operating system is loaded and initialized using software stored on said storage medium; creating and running by said host processor a virtual machine in the host operating system, wherein said virtual machine is created and run using software stored on said storage medium; and loading and initializing by said host processor a guest operating system in the virtual machine, wherein said guest operating system is loaded and initialized using software stored on said storage medium.