How to Reset Your HWID After a Ban (Complete 2026 Guide)
Getting an HWID ban is frustrating because, unlike an account ban, you can't just buy a new account and keep playing. Until your machine's fingerprint stops matching the banned one, every account you log in with is going to bounce off the launcher. This guide walks you through what an HWID reset actually involves and how to do it without making things worse.
Step 1: Don't log in again on the banned hardware
The single most common mistake people make after an HWID ban is panicking and trying to log in to a fresh account on the same machine. The banned fingerprint is still being read; the new account just gets immediately flagged. Some publishers even auto-ban the linked payment method or IP from this — turning a single-machine problem into a much worse one.
Stop logging in until you've taken Step 2.
Step 2: Decide which path you're taking
You have two real options:
- HWID spoofer — software (and sometimes a kernel driver) that rewrites the hardware identifiers the anti-cheat reads. The anti-cheat sees a different machine even though nothing physical has changed.
- Hardware swap — physically replace the components the anti-cheat is reading. Usually means at minimum a new motherboard, often also a new disk drive and network adapter.
For most people, option 1 is what makes sense. Option 2 is for people whose ban is severe enough that they're worried even a good spoofer won't hold up.
Step 3 (option 1): Set up an HWID spoofer
TODO: Add the actual product walkthrough — install steps, what to run before launching the game, what to check before each session.
A reliable spoofer takes care of:
- Disk drive serials
- Motherboard / SMBIOS values
- MAC addresses on network adapters
- Various less-known identifiers (TPM, monitor EDID, etc) for stricter anti-cheats
Cheaper spoofers cover the obvious values and miss the rest. That's usually fine for a casual anti-cheat but doesn't hold up against BattlEye or Vanguard.
Step 3 (option 2): The hardware swap path
If you're going hardware, the bare minimum to swap is the motherboard. Most consumer anti-cheats fingerprint the SMBIOS UUID and motherboard serial heavily, so a new board defeats those. Some also read disk serials, in which case you'll need a fresh drive too — usually solved by buying a new SSD, doing a clean Windows install on it, and only then connecting your old drives back.
Step 4: Test before going back to your main
Set up a fresh, low-value account, log in, play normally for an hour or two. If nothing has caught the spoof, then bring your main back online. Don't take the spoofer's word for it on Day One.
Step 5: Reset is part of routine maintenance
A spoofer isn't a one-time install. Anti-cheats update their detection regularly, and a spoofer that worked yesterday might miss a value tomorrow. Reputable spoofer providers ship updates the same day a major anti-cheat update lands — make sure you're keeping it current.
If you're using a Chod's Cheats spoofer, updates push automatically through the loader, and the status page shows real-time uptime per product.
FAQ
How often can I reset my HWID? With a software spoofer, as often as needed — every session if you want. Hardware-only resets are limited by how often you're willing to buy components.
Will a virtual machine work as an HWID reset? Modern anti-cheats detect hypervisors. VMs were a workable trick years ago but have been reliably caught by major anti-cheats for a while now.
Does Chod's Cheats include HWID reset support? Yes — every product license comes with a free HWID reset per month, with paid extras available from your dashboard.