A method for limiting the duration of EIDE hard drive diagnostic testing to
a predetermined length of time is described. When queried by the BIOS to
acquire the testing capabilities of an EIDE hard drive in a computer, the
support or non-support of extended diagnostic testing and the length of
time needed to complete such testing is returned to the BIOS. In a
preferred embodiment, upon receipt of the aforementioned information, the
BIOS examines the length of time needed to complete the testing and then
allows the testing to begin only if the length of time is less than some
predetermined length of time, e.g., one hour. If the length of time is
greater than the predetermined length of time, the user is informed that
the extended diagnostic testing would take longer than the predetermined
length of time and the test is aborted.
