Managing configurations of computing terminals

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for configuring a terminal by intercepting requests, such as Input/Output (IO) requests or registry requests, evaluating rules based on the intercepted requests during runtime, and performing actions based on the rule evaluations, such as passing the request through, redirecting the request, modifying the request, hiding resources, or performing other actions. The system can be implemented in one or more of the terminal's file system filter drivers and registry filter drivers.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 one or more data processors running an operating system; and   a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations comprising:
 intercepting, between a user-mode process and a component of the operating system operating in a kernel mode, a request to perform an operation related to a resource; 
 accessing one or more rules associated with the resource; 
 evaluating, in runtime, the one or more rules associated with the resource, wherein evaluating the one or more rules occurs in the kernel mode; 
 performing an action based on the request and the evaluation of the rule. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein performing the action comprises at least one of:
 passing the request to the component of the operating system when the one or more rules evaluate to allow access to the resource;   redirecting the request to an alternate resource when the one or more rules evaluate to redirect access to the resource;   returning a message indicating that the resource is not found or that access to the resource is denied when the one or more rules evaluate to disallow access to the resource;   returning a modified response based on the rule when the one or more rules evaluate to return specific or modified information; and   performing an secondary action unrelated to the request based on the one or more rules and the request when the one or more rules evaluate to perform a secondary action.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein performing the action comprises:
 passing the request to the component of the operating system when the one or more rules evaluate to allow access to the resource; and   redirecting the request to an alternate component accessible by the operating system when the one or more rules evaluate to redirect access to the resource.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein passing the request to the alternate component includes modifying the request. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the alternate component includes an alternate resource that is a different version of the resource. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein performing the action comprises:
 passing the request to the component of the operating system when the one or more rules evaluate to allow access to the resource; and   returning a message indicating that the resource is not found or that access to the resource is denied when the one or more rules evaluate to disallow access to the resource.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the request comprises an IO request to open or create a file or directory. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the request comprises a system call to open or create a registry key. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein performing the action comprises returning a modified response, wherein returning the modified response comprises:
 obtaining a portion of information related to the resource;   generating the modified response based on both the portion of information related to the resource and the one or more rules; and   providing the modified response.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations are implemented within a filter driver of the operating system. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise accessing a variable in runtime, and wherein evaluating the rule comprises using the accessed variable. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the variable is associated with a number of licenses currently in use associated with the resource. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the variable is associated with a current time, a current date, or a current location.