Patent ID: 7082526

Claim:
In a computer comprising a basic input-output system (BIOS), one or more auxiliary programs, and an operating system separate from the one or more auxiliary programs, a method for booting the computer, comprising: executing the BIOS; executing one or more of the auxiliary programs, wherein control is transferred from the BIOS to one or more of the auxiliary programs; saving, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, a set of environmental settings that define a current environment for the computer; determining by the one or more of the auxiliary programs whether to continue booting the computer; in response to a determination not to continue booting the computer, continuing to execute the one or more of the auxiliary programs without executing the operating system; in response to a determination to continue booting the computer, performing the steps of: (a) restoring, by the one or more of the auxiliary programs, the set of environmental settings; (b) terminating execution of the one or more auxiliary programs; and (c) executing the operating system, wherein control is transferred from the one or more auxiliary programs to the operating system without rebooting the computer.