Secure booting system and method

1. A method for securing and disabling an electronic device, the method comprising:

during boot up of the electronic device, automatically executing a basic input/output system (BIOS) component of;

during execution of the BIOS component, automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

during execution of the BIOS component, in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

during execution of the BIOS component, in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operation of automatically executing the BIOS component comprises:

calling the BIOS component from power on self test (POST) firmware of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

in response to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition, automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium, restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium; and

after restoring the non-viewable component, automatically restarting the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining the activation password through communication with a source from the group consisting of:

a website; and

a call center.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

in response to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition, proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory machine accessible storage medium; and

instructions stored in the non-transitory machine accessible storage medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement a basic input/output system (BIOS) component;

wherein the BIOS component is configured to execute during boot up of the electronic device; and

wherein the BIOS component, when executed, performs operations comprising:

automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the BIOS component is configured to be called from power on self test (POST) firmware of the electronic device.

9. An apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition by automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the BIOS component is configured to perform operations comprising:

restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium, after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium; and

automatically restarting the electronic device, after restoring the non-viewable component.

11. An apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition by proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.

12. An electronic device comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory machine accessible storage medium responsive to the processor; and

instructions stored in the non-transitory machine accessible storage medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement a basic input/output system (BIOS) component;

wherein the BIOS component is configured to execute during boot up of the electronic device; and

wherein the BIOS component, when executed, performs operations comprising:

automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising:

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

13. An electronic device according to claim 12 , further comprising:

power on self test (POST) firmware configured to call the BIOS component during boot up of the electronic device.

14. An electronic device according to claim 12 , wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition by automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

15. An electronic device according to claim 14 , wherein the BIOS component is configured to perform operations comprising:

restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium, after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium; and

automatically restarting the electronic device, after restoring the non-viewable component.

16. An electronic device according to claim 12 , wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition by proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.