A system for authenticating software is disclosed. In one embodiment, the invention is utilized in conjunction with a gaming machine to authenticate the software utilized by the gaming machine or loaded onto the gaming machine. To achieve authentication, one exemplary mode of operation is used to authenticate the contents of a removable media (224), the removable media being used to per form any desired operation on the gaming machine. Use of a removable media (224) provides means to store large amounts of software on a single media to thereby access and perform numerous tasks including software install, software update, diagnosis, authentication, or configure.