Data processing system and method for remotely accessing a client computer systems's individual initialization settings while the client is powered off

A data processing system including a server computer system coupled to a client computer system utilizing a network, comprising:

• a network adapter included within said client computer system, said network adapter including a network controller and a special purpose processing unit coupled to said network controller, said network controller capable of receiving and transmitting network packets utilizing said network to and from said server computer system;
• said network controller capable of receiving a network packet from said server computer system, said network packet including a magic packet and a command to access one of a plurality of initialization settings stored within a storage included within said client computer system;
• said client computer system being powered-off;
• while said client computer system is powered-off, said special purpose processing unit capable of determining said network packet includes said magic packet;
• and
• in response to said special purpose processing unit determining said network packet includes said magic packet, while said client computer system is power-off, said special purpose processing unit capable of accessing said one of said plurality of initialization settings by reading from or writing to said one of said plurality of initialization settings.