Patent ID: 8856506

Claim:
A method comprising: booting a computer; after booting the computer: receiving first information from an end-user of the computer, wherein the first information is at least one unique identifier associated with the end-user; obtaining automatically second information associated with the end-user based on the first information as has been received from the end-user, wherein the second information includes configuration details used for completion of an imaging and configuration process; determining automatically if there is an existing record associated with the computer based on the second information as has been automatically obtained; after determining automatically: renewing automatically, if there is an existing record associated with the computer, a computer account in a directory service based on the existing record; creating automatically, if there is not an existing record associated with the computer, a new computer account in the directory service; after renewing or creating automatically, joining automatically the computer to directory service domain based on the newly created computer account or based on the renewed computer account.