Patent ID: 7107443

Claim:
A method for customizing a computer system, comprising the steps of: receiving a customer order, wherein the customer order specifies customization information for a computer system; sending a computer system to the customer, the computer system including a network port through which configuration parameters corresponding to the customization information specified in the customer order can be received, and a configuration mechanism for storing the configuration parameters received via the network port, the computer system being adapted to customize the computer system according to the configuration parameters stored in the configuration mechanism; providing instructions to the customer to connect the network port of the computer system to a network; and transmitting the customization parameters over the network and to the network port of the computer system for storage in the configuration mechanism; providing instructions to the customer to initiate a boot process; wherein, the computer system includes a data storage device having a first partition including a first operating system, and a second partition including a second operating system and, in response to the initiation of the boot process, the computer system first boots to the second partition to execute the second operating system which causes the first operating system in the first partition to be customized according to the configuration parameters stored in the configuration mechanism and, upon completion of the customization of the first operating system, the computer system boots to the first partition and executes the first operating system.