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I am using some values of Win32_NetworkAdapter to identify a PC and found a value named GUID which is globally unique for the connection.

But I am not sure whether the value would change if I reinstall the system. Can I use the value of Win32_NetworkAdapter GUID to identify a PC?

Thanks.

Kai
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    No, that's unlikely to work. The GUID is probably generated randomly when Windows first discovers the device. But `Win32_NetworkAdapter` *does* give you a unique identifier for the hardware: `MACAddress`. – Harry Johnston Nov 15 '16 at 22:43
  • Thanks for reply. I am curious about the mechanism of generating the value of GUID. How the Windows ensures the globally unique if two or more equivalent PCs install Windows at the same time? – Kai Nov 16 '16 at 01:35
  • It doesn't. See http://stackoverflow.com/q/39771/886887 – Harry Johnston Nov 16 '16 at 01:46
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    Note that in this particular case, the GUID only needs to be locally unique, i.e., so long as *your* machine doesn't have two adapters with the same GUID, that's all that matters. I don't know whether Windows tries to make the GUID globally unique or not. – Harry Johnston Nov 16 '16 at 01:47

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