Patent ID: 8549356

Claim:
A computing device comprising: a keyboard having a plurality of keys; a processor; and a memory device having stored therein a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to: monitor, during a pre-boot phase of the computing device, for entry of a reference hot key sequence on the keyboard by a user of the computing device; monitor, during a runtime phase of the computing device, for entry of the reference hot key sequence on the keyboard by the user of the computing device; and perform a recovery action in response to the user of the computing device entering the reference hot key sequence on the keyboard during one of the pre-boot phase and the runtime phase of the computing device, wherein to perform the recovery action comprises to perform the recovery action prior to performance of a non-recovery operation subsequent to entry of the reference hot key sequence on the keyboard, and wherein the reference hot key sequence comprises at least a first key of the plurality of keys followed sequentially by a second key of the plurality of keys.