Hard Disk Serial Number Changer: Best Tools on the Market
Here are the best tools that’ll help you safely change the serial number of your PC.
Remember, only do this within the limits of your system’s intended use and legal boundaries. Many games and licensing systems rely on your hard disk or volume serial number for identification.
This list covers reliable tools to modify serial numbers safely, with clear instructions and usage tips.
How to Change and Spoof Your Hard Disk Serial Numbers
Finding Your Current Volume Serial Number
A straightforward method to view your current volume serial number is by using the Command Prompt:
- Press Win+R, type
cmd, and hit Enter. - At the prompt, type
dirand press Enter. - The second line shows the volume serial number for the C: partition. (Typing dir [driveletter:] will display a different serial—even on the same physical drive.)
Note: The volume serial number changes every time you format a partition. Because Windows uses this value during activation, moving an activated installation to a new partition may require reactivation.
Tools for Changing the Volume and Hard Disk Serial Numbers
Below are several tools—each with distinct capabilities—that allow you to change the volume serial number or spoof the hard disk’s built-in serial number.
1. Hard Disk Serial Number Changer
This free, portable tool is designed to change the volume serial number (not the hard-coded hardware serial number). It works on nearly every Windows version since 98. (On Vista and Windows 7, you must run it as an administrator.)
- Usage:
Select your drive from the drop-down box, enter the new serial (formatted as eight hexadecimal characters split into two groups by a hyphen, e.g.,1A2B-3C4D), and click Change. A reboot is required to commit the changes.
Download Hard Disk Serial Number Changer
2. VolumeID (Sysinternals)
VolumeID is a command-line tool by Sysinternals that lets you change the volume serial number. Although it might not be as user-friendly as graphical alternatives, it is a reliable option.
- Usage:
Open a Command Prompt and run:cssCopyEditvolumeid [driveletter:] xxxx-xxxx(Replacexxxx-xxxxwith the desired serial in hex format.)
Make sure to close all running applications before changing the serial and reboot if the drive is NTFS.
Download Sysinternals VolumeID
After making these changes, you might want to ensure that your system’s performance remains optimal. For that, consider checking out our review of the HD Tune Hard Disk Utility & Benchmark Tool.
3. PB DownForce
PB DownForce is a free tool that temporarily spoofs your hard drive’s built-in serial number.
It works on Windows XP and Windows 7 (32-bit only); note that 64-bit Windows is not supported by the free spoofing tools we’ve found.
- Usage:
Run the tool as an administrator and click the Start spoofing button. Advanced options let you choose between different spoofing methods. When testing, tools like PC Wizard, Speccy, and HWInfo might show varying results—some displaying the spoofed value, others the original.
After spoofing, a utility such as PC Wizard may reveal a new serial number:
Remember, the spoofed serial resets on reboot.
4. Hardware Spoofer
HWSpoofer is an older tool (compatible with Windows 2000/XP) that spoofs the hard disk’s built-in serial number and even attempts to spoof your network adapter’s MAC address.
It runs without a graphical interface—simply execute the program to patch the system.
An INI file is created in the same folder to store spoofing details; delete this file to generate new numbers.
Caution: Re-running the tool without a reboot may lead to blue screens or crashes.
5. Object Tree
Object Tree offers an alternative approach by hiding your drives and network adapters completely rather than spoofing their serial numbers.
This can be especially useful if you need to make certain drives invisible to specific software or for security purposes.
- Usage:
Open Object Tree, expand[ROOT] -> GLOBAL??, select PhysicalDrive0, and click Hide. Alternatively, choose Hide all PB related symbolic links from the File menu. To reveal hidden drives, select Unhide all entries from the File menu.
6. Chameleon
Chameleon is a hardware ID spoofing tool designed for Windows 7 and Windows 8 (32-bit).
It operates in kernel mode (Ring 0) to change both the hard drive’s built-in serial number and the MAC address on network adapters. (Support for 64-bit systems is expected in a future release.)
- Usage:
- After purchase, create a forum account and upgrade it to VIP via the web control panel.
- Download the software and run the Loader as administrator. This generates a hardware information text file.
- Access the control panel’s Update HardwareID section and enter all five fields from the hardware information file. A
license.datfile is then provided—place it in the same folder as the Loader. - Rename
Loader.exe(for example, toraymond.exe), and then run it as administrator. - A
Setup.inifile will be generated; open it with Notepad and replaceNULLwith your desired spoofed serial number (keeping the exact same length). - Save the file and run the software again. When you see the message “Chameleon has been loaded successfully,” your hard disk serial number has been spoofed.
Special Note
Because these tools hook Windows functions at a very low level (Ring 0), they behave rather like rootkits in the eyes of security software.
Your antivirus program may flag PB DownForce, HWSpoofer, and similar tools as trojans. You might need to explicitly allow them or temporarily disable your antivirus while using these tools.
If you’re planning more extensive modifications or require further system cleanup afterward, you might find our guides on Disk Wipe Bootable USB Tools: 9 Best to Use in 2023 and MBR Repair & Backup Tools: 11 Best We Tested in 2023 useful.
Conclusion
Learn how to benchmark your drives with the Best Free SSD Benchmark Tool to Test Storage Performance, or explore system maintenance and repair with our guides on HD Tune Hard Disk Utility & Benchmark Tool and MBR Repair & Backup Tools.
For those who need to securely erase data, our guide on Disk Wipe Bootable USB Tools may be just what you need.
Use these tools responsibly and always verify compatibility with your system before proceeding with any modifications.
so you mean reboot in restart you computer or reset you whole computer?
Reboot as in restart. As far as I’m aware, reboot your computer has never implied resetting or reinstalling it.
how can i change hwid with command in bat file ?
About PB Downforce,
Well the Windows Service I grabbed turned out to be a .sys file, obfuscated by VMProtect(1.X).
It’s internal name, as Windows Explorer tells me, is: ‘helper.sys’. So, this means it’s a Windows Device Driver, a .sys file.
But that’s food for IDA Pro, when I’ve got the time.. :)
Regarding PB Downforce,
The executable drops a service into your %TEMP% folder, which it uses. It’s the temporary folder from Windows.
What I did was, preventing the removal of contents in my %TEMP% folder. Very interesting, now I’ve got the service DLL to tinker around with.. Let’s see if that contains a virus. :)
Windows Defender quickly picked the DLL up as ‘ Trojan:Win32/Tiggre!rfn ‘.. Could be bad..
Windows Defender is well known for false positives. In fact, it’s one of the worst there is.
However, tools like this will generate detections in AV software, it’s unavoidable.
Concerning PB Downforce, I got interested.
Windows operating systems based x64-bit, have KPP (Kernel Patch Protection). So the hooks on DeviceIoControl, which PB Downforce applies, are rendered useless.
If you’re on a 32-bit system, then there’s no problem for you.
Some notable strings in the PB Downforce executable are as follows, after unpacking:
IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY
SMART_GET_VERSION
SMART_RCV_DRIVE_DATA
IOCTL_NDIS_QUERY_GLOBAL_STATS
IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY
IoBuildDeviceIoControlRequest()
DeviceIoControl()
PhysicalDrive
ServiceName
PBDOWNFORCE_SERVICE
The executable file itself was packed with ASProtect, and was made with Microsoft Visual C++, with its wxWidgets.
The good news is, it does not contain a trojan.
TROJAN included at your service
Of course there isn’t, try to have a bit of common sense. Antivirus and security software obviously hates programs like these because they are essentially hacking tools.
Tried installing it it kept showing me an error dialog box Error:communication failed.
I dont know what next to do.
Please help
Tried installing it it kept showing me an error dialog box Error:communication failed.
I dont know what next to do.
Please help
PB Downforce is not working on my Windows 10 64-Bit. Please help me. Can I run it in any way?
whats the password for it BRUHHH
Downloads with a password have it listed on the download page.
hello raymond !
the Chameleon site not workin’ :(
Chameleon appears to be dead. I guess none of these tools that are currently available work for newer operating systems, sadly.
i got bluescreen . everytime i shutdown pc. when using pbdownforce
because is wirus XD
About PB DownForce.
It is mentioned that It will spoof your hard drive’s serial number but temporarly. So you’ll need to spoof your hard drive’s serial every time you open the game and connect to that certain server you’re banned in order not to get tracked?
Hello,
PB Down Force just made my day…..Thanks a lot….You are awesome.
I’m trying to use PBdownforce on win 7 64 but I’m getting error: “communiction failed”. Any help on this ? Any other tool to spoof hdd serial on win 7 64 ?
As stated in the article PBDownforce doesn’t work on 64-bit Windows, we couldn’t find any free tools that do.
PBdownforce asking for password to run.
It’s written clearly on the download page.
Another utility which allows changing of a volume serial number is “MiniTool Partition Wizard”, what’s more it changes the whole 32 bit long serial number, not only the last 16 visible bits (8 characters).
Sorry, my mistake – MiniTool reports Volume ID as a 8 byte (16 characters/64 bit) value, while other programs report only 4 bytes (8 characters/32 bits). Don’t know what is the leading 32 bits, but the last 32 bits is the same as reported by VOL utility.
hello! PB downforce is very useful for me but can you please tell me how to use my own serials and macs? I mean… what is the standard format? because I fill the fields with original and new serial and it doesnt work. Thank you very much!
Thank you very much for the info, I need to change my hardware id….
Hey
I was struggling to change the volume id but by the help of
Hard Disk Serial Number Changer i was able to change it easily
Thank you ^_^
Hello.
Thank you for this tip that is very good. bravo.
I enjoyed of this program.
COOL!!!
Well, I have been searching for that for a long time. So detailed and you provided a good research you did yourself.. lol
I am downloading the PB gui program, hopefully it will work. Thanks
Master , Genius
thanks to you I think I could find a way to temporary fix the problem with the local ban in Counter Strike using Pbdownforce..
thanks!
very good one.you changed my view. thanks
very interesting
Thank you for this great tip ;)
That was a very interesting read, you are simply awesome
Thanks! You can try typing ‘vol’ instead of ‘dir’ to see your volume label or serial number
I always enjoyed reading your articles…!
Hi, I need a tool to change my hdd serial no. without restarting my pc, Is there any tool avalable for this. If yes please share. Thnaks
awesome article !