Patent ID: 7742999

Claim:
A method of providing service for a computer hardware component, the method comprising: initiating a support application for a computer system; accessing, by the initiated support application, first data indicating a condition of a hardware component of the computer system; determining, based on the condition, that the condition is sub-optimal without human intervention; accessing, in response to the determination that the condition is sub-optimal, second data that identifies a first manufacturer of a first type of hardware components and a second manufacturer of the first type of hardware components, the second manufacturer being different from the first manufacturer; selecting, from the second data, the first manufacturer or the second manufacturer; enabling display, in response to the determination that the condition is sub-optimal and to the user of the computer system, of an interface that provides service for the hardware component based on the selection of the first manufacturer or the second manufacture; and electronically executing the service for the hardware component of the computer system, wherein electronically executing the service for the hardware component of the computer system comprises downloading and installing a piece of software or modifying a configuration parameter of the hardware component of the computer system.