Patent ID: 8131987

Claim:
A pre-boot authentication system, comprising: an information handling system (IHS) including IHS hardware coupled to at least one authentication component; and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium that is coupled to the IHS hardware and includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to provide a basic input/output system (BIOS), a hypervisor, and a concurrent service environment (CSE); wherein the BIOS is operable, in response to receiving a command to power-on the IHS, to pass control of the IHS to the hypervisor; wherein the hypervisor is operable to load the CSE; and wherein the CSE is operable to request user credentials, receive user credentials from the at least one authentication component, authenticate the received user credentials, determine an authorized operating system image from a plurality of operating system images using the authenticated user credentials, and instruct the hypervisor to boot the authorized operating system image.