International Business Machines Corporation

L Bowen Caldwell

Jeffrey Vernon Ford

Jack L Hammer

A self configuring computer system, which configures and loads appropriate software to support custom configurations without manual intervention by the user or the manufacturer, is disclosed. The invention includes an 'interrogation' module, stored on a system disk and loaded when the computer is first activated, that scans the system for components requiring specific software to operate. The interrogation module obtains identification data from these components and, based thereon, enables a startup module to select the appropriate software from a series of disk-based files. The startup module also executes configuration software having a characteristic naming pattern when the system is first activated, performs various one-time setup or configuration operations on at least the main system disk to render it compatible with the operating system, and selects the proper version of the operating system for the purchased system.

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Charlotte, NC, United States of America

L Bowen Caldwell