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ComputerHardwareIds

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ComputerHardwareIds (ComputerHardwareIds.exe) is a Windows Driver Kit (WDK) command-line tool that can be used to generate hardware IDs for a specific model of a vendor's computer system. The vendor can use these hardware IDs to match device metadata packages to that specific computer model.

The ComputerHardwareIds tool is supported on systems that run Windows 7 or later versions of the Windows operating system. This tool is included in the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) under the bin directory. There are separate versions for 32-bit Windows platforms (x86) and 64-bit Windows platforms (x64).

For information on downloading and installing the WDK, see Download the Windows Driver Kit (WDK).

Run ComputerHardwareIds

To run ComputerHardwareIds, type the command at the command prompt.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64>ComputerHardwareIds> ComputerHardwareIds

Parameters

None

Comments

The ComputerHardwareIds tool creates hardware IDs for the computer based on information from fields in the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) for the computer. For a list of the fields, see Specifying Hardware IDs for a Computer.

For more information about selecting hardware ID values for the computer as well as more information about device metadata packages, see Specifying Hardware IDs for a Computer.

ComputerHardwareIds example output

The following is an example of the output produced by the ComputerHardwareIds tool.

Using the BIOS to gather information

## Computer Information

BIOS Vendor: Contoso Inc.
BIOS Version string: A16
System BIOS Major Version: 6
System BIOS Minor Version: 0

System Manufacturer: Contoso Inc.
System Family: (null)
System ProductName: Contoso SYS01

Enclosure Type: Portable


Hardware IDs
------------
{346511cf-ccee-5c6d-8ee9-3c70fc7aae83}    <- Manufacturer + Family + ProductName + BIOS Vendor + BIOS Version + Major Version + Minor Version
{d7be59e5-29b5-589a-b49d-de7265ef6a7b}    <- Manufacturer + Family + ProductName

In this example, the vendor (Contoso Inc.) would typically use the second hardware ID (d7be59e5-29b5-589a-b49d-de7265ef6a7b) for the value of the HardwareID element in the PackageInfo XML document of the vendor's device metadata package.

For more information about the Windows Development Kit, see Windows Driver Kit (WDK).

For more information about device metadata packages, see Device Metadata Packages.

See also

Specifying Hardware IDs for a Computer

Download the Windows Driver Kit (WDK)