Patent ID: 8849717

Claim:
A method, comprising: at a first device: installing a first version of an application using first installation information, causing authentication information pertaining to the first version of the application to be sent to a host for archiving, receiving second installation information for a second version of the application from the host in response to a need to restore or upgrade the first version of the application, installing, the second version of the application to cause the second version of the application to replace the first version of the application, and receiving the archived authentication information from the host to make the second version of the application operable; and at a second device on which the first version of the application is also installed: receiving the second installation information, wherein the first device and the second device are associated with a same entity, installing the second version of the application to cause the second version of the application to replace the first version of the application, and receiving the archived authentication information from the host to make the second version of the application operable.