Patent ID: 7451440

Claim:
An automated, computer-implemented method of assisting a user in searching through and selecting program patches for installation on a given computer system, where the patches are organized into patch chains stored in a patch chain memory, where the names of files or programs to which the patches are applicable are stored in a patch chain file memory, and where the dependencies of some patches upon prior installation of other patches are stored in a dependencies memory, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining from the given system and supplying to a system description memory a system description comprising hardware version and operating system version information and also information identifying at least some installed files or programs and also some installed patches, if any; guiding the user through the process of searching through a patch database for one or more patches, and for the purpose of finding one or more relevant patches and placing identifiers of these patches into a relevant patch memory, with the scope of the search automatically limited to patches consistent with the information for the given computer system included in the system description memory and thus relevant to patching the given computer system; with respect to any relevant patches found through searching and any additional recommended patches, examining each of the relevant and recommended patches in the context of additional patches, if any, residing in the same patch chain to assist the user in selecting between patches found or recommended and any preferred patches or successor patches residing in the same patch chains; and when the user selects one or more patches for installation, adding to the patches selected any additional patches upon which the selected patches are dependent.