1. A system comprising: a computing device; client software configured to boot the computing device to a normal state; a first memory associated with the computing device, wherein the client software is stored on the first memory; a network interface in communication with a server; the server configured to transmit a sentry packet to the computing device, wherein the sentry packet contains software download trigger information; bootloader program associated with the computing device, wherein the bootloader program is configured to open the network interface port associated with the server and monitor for the presence of the sentry packet; and the bootloader program further configured to download a software application across the network upon detection of the presence of the sentry packet and processing of the software download trigger information, and execute the downloaded software application instead of the client software, wherein executing the downloaded software application further comprises running a diagnostic program on the computing device needed to run a specialized test of a set top box, wherein the downloaded software contains a unique ID to identify itself to a downloading IPTV set-top box, and wherein the downloaded software is found to be properly formatted and signed for the IPTV set-top box.