1. A method of transferring diagnostic data for a computing device over a network using a network device, comprising: prior to loading of system software for the computing device into memory, loading application programming interfaces (APIs) for the network device into a protected memory region, the contents of which are preserved after booting of the system software and after execution control of the computing device has been transferred to the system software; and after booting of the system software and after the execution control of the computing device has been transferred to the system software, invoking at least one of the APIs to transfer the diagnostic data over the network using the network device.