Patent ID: 7073051

Claim:
A system comprising: a display screen, a power supply, a data processor, a non-volatile memory, system initialization routine software stored in the non-volatile memory, and one or more ancillary devices, wherein the non-volatile memory includes system critical information which is used during a system boot sequence by the system to enable the system subsequently to operate, wherein the non-volatile memory includes system non-critical information relating to the kind and/or the identity of the manufacturer or supplier of one or more of the ancillary devices, and wherein the system non-critical information is used to display, on the display screen, a graphic during the system boot sequence, and wherein the system non-critical information is used by the system in order to identify a manufacturer of each of the one or more ancillary devices based on information provided by the one or more ancillary devices, and wherein, when the system is not able to identify a manufacturer of at least one of the one or more ancillary devices using the system non-critical information, the system non-critical information displays, on the display screen, information concerning the at least one of the one or more ancillary devices that indicates that a manufacturer of the at least one of the one or more ancillary devices is not an approved manufacturer with respect to a manufacturer of the system.