Patent ID: 8621454

Claim:
A method for generating a software installation map comprising: receiving a first software package from a service provider, the first software package comprising at least a first software file and a second software file, the first software file being functionally dependent on the second software file; extracting the first and the second software files from the first software package, wherein extracting the first and second software files comprises: uncompressing at least the first and second files of the first software package; accessing a software installation manifest from the first software package; and verifying that at least the first and second software files represented in the software installation manifest have been uncompressed; generating a first software element representing the first software file; generating a second software element representing the second software file; generating a first dependency pointer representing a functional dependency between the first software file and the second software file; and generating a first confidence factor representing a validity of the functional dependency of the first software file on the second software file, wherein the first confidence factor is a function of a defined dependency from the first software package and a historical record of a plurality of successful installations on a plurality of client devices involving the functional dependency of the first software file on the second software file.