A system and method of operating a device connected to a host computer in a manner to preserve knowledge of logon authentication status to the host computer. Upon initialization of the device perform a pattern matching operation of an instruction sequence received by the second microcontroller. When the instruction sequence matches a prestored sequence indicative of performance of a logon process on the host computer tracking a logon state by the second microcontroller. Exchanging the logon state between the second and first microcontrollers such that when the second microcontroller resets, the second microcontroller may recover the logon state from the first microcontroller. Other systems and methods are disclosed.