Patent ID: 8226473

Claim:
A method of authenticating memory contents of a gaming machine, comprising: storing, in a high capacity storage device, a game data set including a plurality of data files and a manifest file having a stored authentication code for each of the plurality of data files; storing, in a boot memory, contents including an authentication program; prior to operation of a wagering game on the gaming machine, authenticating the contents of the boot memory; after authenticating the contents of the boot memory and prior to operation of the wagering game at the gaming machine, authenticating the game data set as a whole with the authentication program; after authenticating the contents of the boot memory and the game data set as a whole, operating the wagering game at the gaming machine by using data files from the plurality of data files; and during the operation of the wagering game at the gaming machine, performing a parallel authentication of (i) the game data set as a whole in a first cycle of the parallel authentication and (ii) the data files being used to operate the wagering game in a second cycle of the parallel authentication, the authentication of the data files in the second cycle using the stored authentication codes in the manifest file within the game data set that has been authenticated as a whole in the first cycle.