Patent ID: 8850563

Claim:
A method, comprising: at a host device: detecting an external storage medium operatively coupled to the host device, wherein the external storage medium is configured to store a portable account comprising portable account information, and the portable account information comprises: a home directory of the portable account, authentication information of the portable account, and a user profile of the portable account; determining whether the portable account stored in the external storage medium is safe for the host device; when the portable account stored in the external storage medium is determined to be safe: adding the portable account to a local directory database of the host device, displaying, via a login user interface presented on a display screen of the host device,-the portable account for login of a user, and adding a hash of a password associated with the portable account to the host device; receiving, from the user of the host device, an input for logging in the portable account via the login user interface; and responsive to the input, logging in the user with the user profile of the portable account and designating the home directory of the portable account as stored on the external storage medium as a home directory of the user.