Changing a MAC Address

How do I change a MAC address?
Every Ethernet card has a MAC address burned-in at the factory. At times, you may want to change this MAC address to one of your own choosing.

The procedures to change a MAC address are specific to each operating system.

How to change a MAC address under Microsoft Windows

Under Windows, the MAC address is stored in a registry key. To change a MAC address, find that key with `regedit` and change it. Of course, Microsoft keeps moving the location of the key around!

Windows XP adds an option to change the MAC address on some network cards under the Advanced tab in the network adapter’s Properties menu. A much easier and more reliable method to change a MAC address under Windows is to use a software utility program designed to do this for you.
Macshift is a free utility that you can use to spoof your MAC address under Microsoft Windows.

How to change a MAC address under MacOS

Instructions for changing the MAC address on a Macintosh can be found at MAC Spoofing on the Macintosh.

How to change a MAC address under FreeBSD

In FreeBSD, you can change your MAC address with the `ifconfig [interface] link [address]` command.

How to change a MAC address under Linux

Under Linux, you can change your MAC address with `ifconfig [interface] hw [class] [address]`, or you can use the GNU MAC Changer.

How to change a MAC address under Solaris

In Solaris, you can change the MAC address with the `ifconfig [interface] [ether] [address]` command.

How to change a MAC address under OpenBSD

OpenBSD does not, by default, allow you to change the MAC address. It is possible to change the MAC address under OpenBSD with sea.c.

How to change a MAC address under HP-UX

Under HP-UX, you can change the MAC address in SAM by selecting Networking and Communications, then selecting the interface, then Action, Modify, Advanced Options. HP-UX refers to the MAC address as the “station address”.

Changing a MAC Address in Hardware

Speed Demon Adapters sells network cards which give you the ability to change the MAC address stored in their EERPROM. This can give you the ability to change your MAC address under any operating system that supports either the PCI bus or PCMCIA Type II cards.

Other Tutorials…

BSD

1) Bring down the interface: “ifconfig xl0 down”
2) Enter new MAC address: “ifconfig xl0 link 00:00:00:AA:AA:AA”
3) Bring up the interface: “ifconfig xl0 up”

Linux

1) Bring down the interface: “ifconfig eth0 down”
2) Enter new MAC address: “ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:00:00:AA:AA:AA”
3) Bring up the interface: “ifconfig eth0 up”

Windows 2000/XP

Method 1:
This is depending on the type of Network Interface Card (NIC) you have. If you have a card that doesn’t support Clone MAC address, then you have to go to second method.

a) Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel and double click on Network and Dial-up Connections.
b) Right click on the NIC you want to change the MAC address and click on properties.
c) Under “General” tab, click on the “Configure” button
d) Click on “Advanced” tab
e) Under “Property section”, you should see an item called “Network Address” or “Locally Administered Address”, click on it.
f) On the right side, under “Value”, type in the New MAC address you want to assign to your NIC. Usually this value is entered without the “-” between the MAC address numbers.
g) Goto command prompt and type in “ipconfig /all” or “net config rdr” to verify the changes. If the changes are not materialized, then use the second method.
h) If successful, reboot your system.

Method 2:
This should work on all Windows 2000/XP systems

a) Go to Start -> Run, type “regedt32″ to start registry editor. Do not use “Regedit”.

b) Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}”. Double click on it to expand the tree. The subkeys are 4-digit numbers, which represent particular network adapters. You should see it starts with 0000, then 0001, 0002, 0003 and so on.
c) Find the interface you want by searching for the proper “DriverDesc” key.
d) Edit, or add, the string key “NetworkAddress” (has the data type “REG_SZ”) to contain the new MAC address.
e) Disable then re-enable the network interface that you changed (or reboot the system).

Windows 9x

Use the same method as Windows 2000/XP except for the registry key location is “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net” and you must reboot your system.

Posted on August 09 2006 11:37:59

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