Patent ID: 7149889

Claim:
A method for rebooting, the method comprising the steps of: detecting an indication that is triggered in response to a first condition that is predictive of a critical problem in a client device, wherein the indication includes a flag, wherein the critical problem includes at least one of a plurality of problems, including problems that result in reboots that can degrade a user experience and problems that can be remedied by a reboot; responsive to detecting the indication, determining an opportune time to reboot the client device in a manner that reduces user intrusiveness, wherein the step of determining the opportune time includes the step of determining at least one of a power on state of the client device, whether a recording is scheduled at the client device, whether a time window for rebooting has been configured at a remote location, whether the reboot will occur at a time within the time window, and whether a keypress indication has been detected at the client device within a defined range of time, wherein the step of determining the opportune time includes the step of providing a user interface screen that enables a user to postpone the reboot, further including the step of determining that failure of the user to respond to the user interface screen is the indication of the opportune time, further including the step of repeating the step of determining the opportune time according to at least one of until the opportune time is available, if the first condition that is predictive of the critical problem exists, and a second condition that is predictive of the critical problem or a different critical problem triggers a second indication, wherein the second condition includes at least one of a condition that replaces the first condition and a condition that adds to the first condition; and causing the rebooting during the opportune time.