Methods and systems are provided for recovering configuration data in a computer system. According to one method, a device is selected as a current device. A first map location is retrieved from a layout of present configuration data stored in a computer system. Next, a second map location is retrieved from a layout of updated configuration data stored in the computer system for the current device. A determination is then made as to whether the first map location matches the second map location for the current device. If it is determined that the first map location matches the second map location for the current device, then the next hardware device in the set of devices is selected as the current device. If it is determined that the first map location does not match the second map location for the current component, then the present configuration data is copied from the first map location to the second map location in an NVRAM, the present configuration data is erased from the first map location in the NVRAM, and the next hardware device in the set of devices is selected as the current device.