Change UUID from within Windows 7x64

[Mikka]

Enter the following command in cmd:

wmic CsProduct Get UUID

you'll receive the system's UUID value, usually different from:

FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF

Well, I seek a possibility to simply change my UUID to this very value (33 times F meaning "none").

How do I do that, or is there a simple way of doing this?

(I'm on quite recent Desktop PC with a Gigabyte UEFI motherboard, just in case.)

Thanks in advance!

[jaclaz]

The UUID you mentioned derives from *something* which is *somehow* embedded on the motherboard BIOS.

If you can access the BIOS and change the *whatever* that produces the UUID, then you can change it.

As a matter of fact a number of motherboard will return all FF's because their BIOS has not that kind of info.

So, not only "not simple", likely "not possible" and in any case "very specific" to the specific motherboard/BIOS/firmware/UEFI/whatever.

jaclaz

[Tripredacus]

It is definately possible to change the UUID on your own, but it comes down to having access to the correct tools. Gigabyte would probably be more likely to give you a corrected BIOS rather than the tools to write into the UUID.

[jaclaz]

Let me doubt that Gigabyte (or any motherboard manufacturer providing a UUID for a motherboard) will EVER release to final customers a tool capable of removing it (or - if you prefer- capable of "anonymizing" the board).

I will stand by my "likely not possible" (in practice).

Of course - as said - in theory it is perfectly possible, the exact same way it is embedded in factory it can be changed.

- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. -

jaclaz

[Mikka]

It puzzles me a bit that with wbemtest you can set a "UUID" value like this.

However, it has no effect. Checking with wmic or a vbscript, the UUID remains the same. I would like to set mine to f only (as not set).

It seems the UUID is also named SMBIOS GUID, which leads to Gigabyte's/AMI UEFI. Seems to be no simple way, unfortunately...

[Tripredacus]

F only does not mean not set. It is just an invalid UUID. If it were truly not set, a properly structured WMI query would fail the object check, aka there is no value in that field, or in other words a null return.

And regarding changing items with WMI, you can only change operating system objects. Windows can only read enumerated hardware values. WMI is not so picky on generating an error when you try to write to an unchangeable field. It *seems* to work but as you note the value doesn't actually change. Yes the UUID is stored in the SMBIOS of the motherboard, hence why you'd need to either use a custom BIOS or have the appropriate SMBIOS editing tools.

I am wondering if there is another way to accomplish what you are trying to do rather than editing that information on the hardware level.

[puntoMX]

I am wondering if there is another way to accomplish what you are trying to do rather than editing that information on the hardware level.

As far as I know you need to mod the BIOS and to be safe you would need an external programmer for that. You could install coreboot or something on that too that way, but...

I would not do this just for a single PC, but might be interesting for some special projects were more PCs are involved, for security reasons or what ever, in that case you could order also a batch from Gigabyte directly with the UUID set (no idea how many you need to order these days...).

[Tripredacus]

No what I mean is that the user wants to change the UUID for some reason, which means something is using it for a specific reason. I mean there may be some other way to accomplish taking care of whatever that problem is without fiddling with the BIOS. From how the post sounds, there is a valid UUID in the BIOS already, but he wants to change it to an invalid one. The only cases I can think of wanting to change to an invalid one is in an Enterprise environment where inventory or deployment systems will reject an invalid UUID as it is in the common blacklist.

For example:

http://capawiki.capasystems.com/display/CI4SU4HELP/Non-Unique+UUID

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/systemcenter/en-US/76198d2e-5957-4518-afd2-fe5ebee88dc0/getting-sccm-to-ignore-the-uuid

[Mikka]

puntoMX you're right, such an effort isn't usually worth it.

Tripredacus, I was looking for system properties to change to their "default" state.

In case I've got a run-of-the-mill PC, using

wmic CsProduct Get /all /format:table

I get a few properties which are set to "To be filled by O.E.M." (except for [the Mainboard] "Vendor") that might be customized accordingly.

And there's the UUID. Which I expected to be changeable, too, and with the additional tool AMIDEWIN[x64].exe

AMIDEWINx64.exe /su 00000000000000000000000000000000

I changed it. But it seems the assigned UUID isn't permanent (not "reboot proof")...

[Tripredacus]

AFAIK the UUID field can only be written to if the field is empty or is all FF.

[Mikka]

AFAIK the UUID field can only be written to if the field is empty or is all FF.

Unfortunately, I doesn't work any more, I don't know why.

I ran it with all F and, in a second step, tried to apply a random value.

Using all F, it's something like

FF1BFF70-FF24-FF22-5FFF-6CFFFFFFFFFF

what I get.

Maybe AMIDEWINx64 isn't appropriate for UEFI...?

Edited September 26, 2013 by Mikka