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I am unable to locate the MAC address in a new computer with Windows 7. I've tried ipconfig /all in the console to which I got no items match your search. I also tried getmac. A screen flashed very briefly with what appeared to be the information, but it was not there long enough to read.

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4 Answers

up vote 51 down vote accepted

You have probably typed that into the Start Menu search dialog, which does execute the command but doesn't show it as the command prompt window disappears as soon as the command has been executed. This is the normal bahavior of command prompt applications, they close as soon as it is done.

In order for the command prompt to stay, you have to run those commands through the command prompt. The command prompt doesn't disappear after execution of a program; so, you can see the output as a result.

  1. Click the Start Button or press the Windows key.

  2. In the start menu search, type cmd.

  3. Hit Enter to execute the command prompt, or click on the cmd entry that appears.

  4. Type in ipconfig /all or getmac and it should execute both commands and the window will remain open such that you can see the output.

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+1 just for the greatest Windows command of all time: getmac :D – Bobby Jan 5 '10 at 22:14
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> just for the greatest Windows command of all time: getmac Greatest of all time? It would have been better if it were getbigmac. :-| – Synetech Feb 24 at 18:50
I've worked with Windows for a majority of my life, and I've never known about getmac. +infinity – Ian Pugsley Apr 4 at 13:23
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up vote 18 down vote

A simple way to get the MAC address(es) of your network adapter(s):

On a command prompt type 

getmac

Example:

getmac mac address of network adapter

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+1. I was not aware about this one. I always use ipconfig /all, but this is a lot easier. – JordyOnrust Feb 21 '10 at 21:59
I think that the ethernet address will typically be first, and the wifi address will typically be second. – Clinton Blackmore Sep 1 '10 at 21:35
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Also, if you use getmac /v then it will show the name of the adapter and the connection state. Much easier if you have multiple network adapters, especially if you have some virtual ones from virtual machine software. – TuxRug Oct 10 '10 at 23:40
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up vote 15 down vote

For Windows Vista and Windows 7, in the control panel:

Open the Network and Sharing Center > Local Area Connection > Details > Physical Address.

Network and Sharing Center MAC address

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up vote 5 down vote

You can also locate the MAC address using VBScript:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
    & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select MACAddress from Win32_NetworkAdapter where DeviceID=1")
For Each objItem in colItems
    Wscript.Echo "MAC Address: " & objItem.MACAddress 
Next
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reinventing the wheel. – MDMarra Nov 7 '09 at 7:05
How so? explain properly along with your comment. – user31894 Nov 9 '09 at 7:57
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getmac does the same thing and is built into Windows. – MDMarra Nov 9 '09 at 12:07
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that's not called reinventing the wheel. That's called "there are many ways to do things". vbscript works almost in every version of windows , including Win9x. getmac is not available in every version. – user31894 Nov 10 '09 at 1:38
Well, it's a Window 7 question, so why bother writing a whoooole script when you can just type a command? – TFM May 22 '10 at 10:03
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protected by Jeff Atwood♦ Jun 7 '10 at 4:38

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