What is a MAC address?
A Media Access Control (MAC) address is the unique hardware identifier of a NIC (Network Interface Card). A MAC address consists of two parts. The Block ID is the first six characters of a MAC address. The Device ID is the remaining six characters. The Block ID is unique to the manufacturer. The Device ID is based on the device's model and manufacturer date.
MAC addresses in XP
Go to START
Then select RUN
Type in cmd
When the Disk Operating System (DOS) window comes up at the prompt, type ipconfig /all
The MAC address is the 12 character hexadecimal string
i.e. 08-00-46-4F-99-96
It should look something like:
Ethernet adapter
Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : uwaterloo.ca
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100+ Management Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-D0-B7-12-43-38
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . :
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . :
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . :
MAC addresses in Vista & Windows 7
Go to START
Then type in 'command prompt' in the search bar and select the command prompt application, as shown below.
When the DOS window comes up at the prompt, type ipconfig /all
The MAC address is the 12 character hexadecimal string
i.e. 00-0E-46-4F-CD-9B
It should look something like:
Ethernet adapter
Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : uwaterloo.ca
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100+ Management Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 01-D0-B7-10-DC-88
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . :
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . :
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . :