Patent ID: 8078909

Claim:
A computer adapted to respond to discrepancies in the file system of the computer, comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program modules comprising: a template storage module for storing a template, the template describing an expected file system state of the computer, the expected file system state determined based on software units installed on the computer; a discrepancy detection module configured to: detect a discrepancy between the expected file system state described in the template and an actual file system state of the computer, and responsive to an installation program attempting to add a file to the file system of the computer, detect prior to addition of the file to the file system in real time a discrepancy between the expected file system state described in the template and a file system state that would result if the installation program were permitted to add the file to the file system; and a discrepancy response module configured to perform an action in response to detection of a discrepancy by the discrepancy detection module.