Patent ID: 7065640

Claim:
A computing system aiding in the operation diagnostic and maintenance functions of a remote computing devices, the diagnostic system comprising: a plurality of remote computing devices coupled to a network, wherein each said remote computing device runs under a respective first boot image; a process initiator on a saver, coupled to a user interface, that allows for the selection of a particular remote computing device from said plurality of remote computing devices; a download director that controls a download of a maintenance boot image to the particular remote computing device via the network; a reboot director connected to initiate a reboot process of the particular remote computing device; a daemon on the server, monitoring the particular remote computing device for the completion of a given task; wherein said process initiator, said download director, and said reboot director are connected such that, upon initiation by said process initiator, said download director downloads a temporary boot image to the particular remote computing device, said reboot director causes the particular remote computing device to reboot using said temporary boot image, and said daemon monitors the remote computing device for completion of a given task associated with the temporary boot image, then upon completion of the given task, said download director downloads said respective first boot image to the particular remote computing device and said reboot director causes the particular remote computing device to reboot using said first boot image.