The invention in one embodiment is a method for installing an operating system
on a computer. The method includes generating an external configuration file containing
information about a plurality of devices that might be associated with the computer;
identifying a particular device associated with the computer, the particular device
being one of the plurality of devices; installing a driver on the computer according
to the information stored in the external configuration file and the particular
device's identity; and installing the operating system according to information
stored in the external configuration file and the particular device's identity.