Patent ID: 7194738

Claim:
A method of installing software bundles on target computers, comprising the steps of: (a) creating a set of distinct image files, each of which corresponds to a software bundle resident in a reference storage medium of a reference computer that was built according to a specified hardware and software configuration; (b) copying the set of distinct image files into each of a plurality of target storage mediums; (c) installing one of the target storage mediums in each of a plurality of target computers, each built according t& the specified hardware configuration of one of the image files created in step (a); (d) causing each of the target computers to select one of the image files in the target storage medium that is installed therein, the selected one of the image files corresponding to the hardware configuration of the target computer and having a desired software configuration; (e) for each of the target computers, decoding the selected one of the image files stored in the medium of the particular target computer to produce the software bundle that is stored in the target storage medium which is installed in the target computer, (f) loading the selected image files into a second space of the target storage mediums in compressed form; (g) decoding and decompressing the compressed image files in the second spaces of the target storage mediums; and loading the decoded and decompressed image files into a first space of the target storage mediums so any image files in the first space are overwritten by the decoded and decompressed image files; the target computer using the decoded and decompressed image file in the first space in normal operation.