Patent ID: 7296183

Claim:
In a computing system that includes one or more processors, and a system memory, wherein the computing system is capable of using the one or more processors to instantiate in the system memory an instance of an application program and a system consistency management module, a method for the system consistency management module to selectively performing consistency checking, the method comprising the following an act of selectively identifying a plurality of data fields of state information corresponding to the instance that are to be subject to consistency checking, the plurality of data fields representing less than all of the state information corresponding to the instance, and wherein the selective identification of the data fields to be consistency checked is performed by one of the application instance or by the consistency management module; an act of selectively identifying an event that will prompt the consistency checking by one or more of the application instance or the consistency management module; an act of the consistency management module determining that the prompting event has occurred; and in response to determining that the prompting event has occurred, an act of performing the consistency checking on the plurality of data fields of state information.