A system and method for implementing a boot recovery on a data processing system. According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one processor compares contents of a first read-only memory (ROM) image and a second ROM image outputted from a memory. The first ROM image is initially selected to boot a data processing system utilizing a first basic input output system (BIOS) program. In response to determining that contents of the first ROM image and the second ROM image are different, the second ROM image is selected. The data processing system boots utilizing the second BIOS program stored by the second ROM image.