Patent ID: 7330966

Claim:
A method, in a computing device, for controlling access to a computer system, comprising: at power on, beginning a boot process to boot an operating system residing on the computer system, wherein beginning the boot process includes loading a pre-execution services environment on the computer system that limits services for the computer system to provide security based on a unique device identifier prior to booting the operating system; reading the unique device identifier from a network interface device present in the computer system; establishing communication with a server having means for validating unique device identifiers; sending the unique device identifier to the server for validation, wherein the unique device identifier is validated prior to booting the operating system residing on the computer system; and receiving a message to perform at least one of terminating the boot process prior to booting the operating system residing on the computer system if the unique device identifier is not valid and completing the boot process by booting the operating system residing on the computer system if the unique device identifier is valid, wherein the steps of reading, establishing, sending and receiving are performed within the pre-execution services environment.