CN103186387B - Electronic device and method for updating its operating system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an electronic device and an operating system updating method thereof. The operating system of the electronic device is installed in the storage device. The processor is coupled to the storage device. When the operating system is updated, the processor checks whether the operating system has an application program which is installed by a user, if the application program exists, the processor backs up the application program in another storage device, then the operating system is updated, then the backup of the application program is retrieved, and the application program is reinstalled by using the backup. The electronic device can also backup the user data first and then restore the user data after updating the operating system. The invention automatically backs up and restores the application program and the user data when the operating system of the electronic device is updated, avoids the problem that the corresponding program and the data are possibly lost when the traditional system is updated, ensures that the updating process of the operating system is simpler and more convenient, and better meets the requirements of users.

Description

Electronic device and method for updating its operating system

technical field

The present invention relates to an electronic device and its operating system update method, and in particular to an application program and user data when the electronic device and its operating system are updated.

Background technique

Today's mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers are well developed and widely used. Operating system update is an indispensable function of this type of information products, and manufacturers can provide users with new functions or bug fixes through this function. On the other hand, general mobile devices also allow users to install additional application programs to expand the utility of the mobile device. For example, users can purchase various application programs from the online application program store opened by the manufacturer and install them on their mobile devices. However, operating system updates can be disruptive, causing the loss of user-installed applications. Therefore, when updating the operating system, the application programs downloaded and installed by the user should also be processed to prevent possible loss during the update.

For the processing of the application program downloaded by the user, the existing design usually requires the user to use related software to back up its data. This is usually done by using data synchronization software to record the applications downloaded by users. In this method, the application program purchased by the user must be recorded through the computer. After the system update is completed, the application program is installed back on the mobile device. Although the above method can completely ensure that the application program downloaded by the user will not be lost, the user must operate the computer separately, which is inconvenient to use.

Some mobile devices will put the applications downloaded by the user in a separate disk partition (diskpartition) to avoid the above problems, but this method must determine the size of the system partition (system partition) and user partition (user partition) in advance, which will be relatively useless elasticity. In addition, this method must standardize the directory where the application is placed, and this method cannot be used for an operating system without such a standard or an additionally installed system link library (system library).

Some operating systems also record the applications installed by users in the cloud. However, if the user has no network to use, the application program installed by the user cannot be restored, which is inconvenient to use.

In addition, when updating the operating system of the mobile device, user data in the operating system must also be protected to prevent possible data loss during the update.

For the protection of user data, the existing practice is to use data synchronization software to synchronize user data to other computers or cloud servers, or to connect the mobile device to a general computer, and the data in the mobile device can be viewed by the user. are transferred by themselves.

The disadvantage of the above method is that the data synchronization software may take a long time to perform data synchronization, and the user is required to transfer the data when the system of the mobile device is updated. Some mobile devices store user data in an external memory card to avoid the above problems, but for the increasing internal storage space of mobile devices, the external memory card may not be enough for use, which is not a reasonable way.

Contents of the invention

The invention provides an electronic device and its operating system update method, which can protect application programs and user data from being lost when the operating system is updated, making the operating system update process more convenient and more in line with user needs.

The present invention proposes a method for updating an operating system, which includes the following steps: checking whether there is an application program installed by the user in the operating system of the electronic device; when such an application program exists, backing up the above-mentioned application program; updating the operating system; Back to the backup of the above application, and reinstall the above application using the above backup.

The present invention further provides an electronic device including a storage device and a processor. The operating system of the electronic device is installed in the storage device. The processor is coupled to the storage device, and is used to check whether there is an application program installed by the user in the operating system when updating the operating system. When the above-mentioned application program exists, the processor is used to back up the application program in another storage device, and then update operating system, and then retrieve a backup of the above application, and reinstall the above application using the above backup.

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

To sum up, the present invention can automatically back up the application program and user data before updating the operating system of the electronic device, and use the backup to automatically restore the application program and user data after updating the operating system. Therefore, the present invention can avoid the problem that the application program and user data may be lost when the traditional system is updated.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of an operating system update method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4 are schematic diagrams of electronic devices of two embodiments of the present invention.

5 to 7 are flowcharts of operating system update methods according to different embodiments of the present invention.

in:

100: electronic device; 120: processor; 140, 160: storage device; 210-260, 510-540, 610-640, 710-740: process steps.

detailed description

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 100 may be any electronic device capable of installing an operating system and application programs, 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 .

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of an operating system update method according to an embodiment of the present invention. This method can be executed by the processor 120 of the electronic device 100 .

The flow of the method shown in FIG. 2 is described below. First, the processor 120 communicates with a server on the network and detects that there is an updated version of the operating system (step 210). Then the processor 120 checks whether there is at least one application program installed by the user in the operating system (step 220 ). If no such application exists, the flow goes directly to step 240. If there is such an application program, the processor 120 backs up all the above application programs in another storage device different from the storage device 140 (step 230), so as to avoid loss of the application program during the update process. The processor 120 can pack all the files and data of each application program into a single file, just like the single file downloaded when the user installed the application program before, so as 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 files needed to update the operating system from the above-mentioned server, and the processor 120 can also update the operating system while downloading the update files, so as to save the storage space of the storage device 140 .

Next, the processor 120 checks whether the above-mentioned application program backup exists (step 250). If the above-mentioned application backup does not exist, the update of the operating system is now complete. If the above-mentioned application program backup exists, then processor 120 retrieves the backup of the above-mentioned application program from the above-mentioned another storage device, and uses the backup of each application program to reinstall each of the above-mentioned application programs (step 260). The update is now complete.

The steps in FIG. 2 are completely automatic, and no additional operation is required by the user.

In step 230 , the processor 120 backs up all the above-mentioned application programs in another storage device different from the storage device 140 . Another storage device in step 230 may be the storage device 160 as shown in FIG. 3 . The storage device 160 in 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 two separate parts of the same physical device, such as different partitions of the same hard disk.

Another storage device in step 230 may also be the storage device 160 shown in FIG. 4 . The storage device 160 is located outside the electronic device 100, so at step 230, the processor 120 will prompt the user to provide the storage device 160, for example, connect the storage device 160 to the electronic device 100, or provide the URL of the storage device 160, so that the processor 120 can create The connection between the electronic device 100 and the storage device 160 . The storage device 160 may be an external storage device or a remote storage device located on a network or cloud, such as an external hard disk, a network hard disk, or a personal computer connected to the electronic device 100 .

Regardless of 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 update of the operating system of the storage device 140, so the application programs backed up on the storage device 160 will not be lost. .

FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are flowcharts of operating system update methods in different embodiments of the present invention, and these methods are all extensions of the method in FIG. 2 . The methods in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 can also be executed by any electronic device capable of installing an operating system and an application program. In these embodiments, these methods are executed by the processor 120 of the electronic device 100 , and will be described one by one below.

Steps 210 to 260 in the flow charts in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are the same as the method in FIG. 2 , and will not be repeated below.

In the method flow of FIG. 5, when the processor 120 finds that there is no application program installed by the user at step 220, or after performing step 230, it will ask the user whether to back up the user data stored in the storage device 140 (step 510). User data refers to the data generated by the user using the electronic device 100, such as the work files generated by using the application program, the option settings of the application program, and the files stored in the electronic device 100 by the user or downloaded from the network. data and so on. If the user does not want to back up user data, the processor 120 directly goes to step 240 to update the operating system. If the user wants to back up the user data, the processor 120 first backs up the user data in the storage device 160 (step 520 ) to avoid loss during updating, and then goes to step 240 to update the operating system.

In the method flow of FIG. 5 , when the processor 120 finds no backed-up application in step 250 , or after executing step 260 , it checks whether there is backed up user data (step 530 ). If there is no backup user data, the update of the operating system in FIG. 5 is completed so far. If there is backed up user data, the processor 120 retrieves the previously backed up user data from the storage device 160, and restores the user data in the storage device 140 (step 540). The processor 120 can save the user data back to the original directory before backup, so as to restore the user data.

As mentioned above, the storage device 160 is not affected by the update of the operating system of the storage device 140 , so the user data backed up in the storage device 160 will not be lost.

In the method flow of FIG. 6, when the processor 120 finds that there is no application program installed by the user in step 220, or after performing step 230, the user will be prompted to select which user data to be backed up (step 610), and then the stored In the user data of the storage device 140 , the part selected by the user is backed up in the storage device 160 (step 620 ), so as not to be lost during the update, and then to step 240 to update the operating system. The user can choose not to back up any data in step 610 , in this case, do not do any processing in step 620 , and the process goes directly to step 240 .

In the method flow of FIG. 6 , when the processor 120 finds that there is no backup application program in step 250, or after executing step 260, it will check whether there is backup user data, that is, it is selected by the user in the previous step 610. Backup user data (step 630). If the above-mentioned backup user data does not exist, the update of the operating system in FIG. 6 is completed so far. If there is the above-mentioned backup user data, the processor 120 retrieves from the storage device 160 the part of the user data selected by the user to be backed up in step 610, and restores the user data of this part in the storage device 140 (step 640 ). The operating system update method shown in FIG. 6 is relatively flexible, allowing the user to set which data is to be backed up, or directly deleted without keeping it.

The operating system update method in FIG. 7 is suitable for the situation that the update of the operating system will not damage user data. This update method can still 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 application program installed by the user at step 220, or after performing step 230, it will check whether the storage space of the storage device 140 is sufficient to update the operating system (step 710), if If the storage space is sufficient, the processor 120 directly goes to step 240 to update the operating system. If the storage space of the storage device 140 is not enough to update the operating system, the processor 120 will back up the user data stored in the storage device 140 in batches in the storage device 160, and delete the backed-up user data in the storage device 140 until it is stored. Until the storage space of the device 140 is sufficient to update the operating system (step 720). The processor 120 then updates the operating system at step 240 . In this embodiment, it is not necessary to back up all the user data, only enough to be backed up to the storage space of the storage device 140 for updating.

In the method flow of FIG. 7 , when the processor 120 finds no backed-up application in step 250 , or after executing step 260 , it checks whether there is previously backed up user data (step 730 ). If there is no previously backed up user data, the operating system update in FIG. 7 is completed so far. If there is previously backed-up user data, the processor 120 retrieves the backed-up part of the user data from the storage device 160, and restores the above-mentioned backed-up part in the storage device 140 (step 740), and the operating system of FIG. 7 is updated. That's it.

To sum up, the present invention can automatically backup the application program and user data installed by the user before updating the operating system, and automatically restore the application program and user data after the update. The invention can avoid the loss of application programs and user data during the update process, reduce user operations, and shorten the update time of the operating system.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A method for updating an operating system, comprising: Check for an updated version of the operating system; Checking whether an operating system of an electronic device has at least one application program installed by a user; When the application exists, the application is backed up; update the operating system; and Retrieve a backup of the app and use that backup to reinstall the app. 2. The operating system update method according to claim 1, further comprising: before the step of updating the operating system: backup a user data; And that OS update method, after the step of reinstalling the application, also includes: Retrieve and restore the user data. 3. The operating system update method according to claim 1, further comprising: before the step of updating the operating system: Backing up a user's selected portion of a user's data; And that OS update method, after the step of reinstalling the application, also includes: Retrieve and restore the portion of the user data. 4. The operating system update method according to claim 1, wherein the operating system is installed in a storage device of the electronic device, and the operating system update method further comprises before the step of updating the operating system: Checking whether the storage space of the storage device is sufficient to update the operating system; and If the storage space of the storage device is not enough to update the operating system, back up a user data stored in the storage device in batches, and delete the backed up user data until the storage space of the storage device is sufficient to update the operation until the system; And that OS update method, after the step of reinstalling the application, also includes: Retrieve and restore the backed up portion of this user data. 5. An electronic device comprising: a first storage device, wherein an operating system is installed on the first storage device; and A processor, coupled to the first storage device, is used to check the updated version of the operating system and check whether there is at least one application program installed by the user in the operating system; when the application program exists, the processor is used to The application program is backed up in a second storage device, the operating system is updated, and the backup of the application program is retrieved, and the application program is reinstalled using the backup program. 6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the second storage device, wherein the second storage device is coupled to the processor. 7. 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. 8. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the processor backs up a user data stored in the first storage device in the second storage device before updating the operating system, and reinstalls the The application program then retrieves the user data from the second storage device, and restores the user data from the first storage device. 9. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the processor backs up a portion of user data stored in the first storage device selected by the user in the second storage device before updating the operating system. The second storage device, after reinstalling the application program, retrieves the part of the user data from the second storage device, and restores the part in the first storage device. 10. The electronic device according to 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 If there is not enough space to update the operating system, the processor backs up a user data stored in the first storage device in batches to the second storage device, and deletes the backed-up user data in the first storage device , until the storage space of the first storage device is sufficient to update the operating system; the processor retrieves the backed-up part of the user data from the second storage device after reinstalling the application program, and The storage device restores the portion.