While there are any number of ways to determine the MAC address of a Windows PC, the three options listed below provide an option each for the command line, the Control Panel and a separate application.
The Command Line
The fastest way to determine the MAC address of a PC running Windows 7 or later is via the command line, using either getmac or ipconfig. Both of these are built into Windows and do not require any separate download, but we'll provide instructions below for the less complicated of the two approaches, getmac.
To launch a command prompt, click the Start button and type cmd into the search box. Under Programs a listing should appear for either cmd.exe or Command Prompt. Either is fine, click on the first on the list. A command prompt window should appear with a title something akin to C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe, and you should see a prompt that looks like the following:
C:\Users\your username here>
At the prompt, type getmac /v and hit Enter. You should see something like the following:
C:\Users\your username here>getmac /v
Connection Name Network Adapter Physical Address Transport Name
=============== =============== =================== ==========================================================
Local Area Conn TAP-Win32 Adapt 00-00-00-00-00-01 Media disconnected
Bluetooth Netwo Bluetooth Devic 00-00-00-00-00-02 Media disconnected
Wireless Networ Broadcom 802.11 00-00-00-00-00-03 \Device\Tcpip_{XXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX}
Wireless Networ Microsoft Virtu 00-00-00-00-00-04 Media disconnected
The MAC address is listed in the column marked "Physical Address". The column marked "Transport Name" will give some indication as to whether or not the adapter is active. If it shows as Media disconnected, then the adapter is likely not active and is therefore not suitable for use with a SIMetrix/SIMPLIS evaluation license. Typically, you would choose either a "Local Area Connection" or a "Wireless Network Adapter" for this purpose. Please note, however, that if you opt to go with the "Wireless Network Adapter", your WiFi switch (whether hardware or software) must be on in order to use SIMetrix/SIMPLIS. It does not need to be connected to a network, but it does need to be powered on.
For this example, we've highlighted in red the "active" adapter best suited for use with a SIMetrix/SIMPLIS evaluation.
The Network and Sharing Center
While it requires a few more steps and clicks, those not comfortable with the Windows Command Prompt may prefer to get the MAC address via the graphic interface of the Network and Sharing Center applet of the Windows Control Panel.
To open the Network and Sharing Center, click the Start button and type Network and Sharing into the search box. Under Control Panel an entry should appear for Network and Sharing Center. Clicking on it should open the Network and Sharing Center control panel applet.
From the list of "active networks", click on the text next to the label "Connections" as indicated in red in the above image. This will open the Connection Status properties page.
In the section marked "Connection", click the button labeled "Details" (as indicated in red above) to open the Network Connection Details property page.
The MAC address can be found labeled as the "Physical Address". Although it is not immediately apparent, it is possible to use Cntrl-C to copy the text of this dialog to later paste into an email or a text document so that it is not necessary to transcribe the MAC address manually.
lmtools: a Separate Download
For those more comfortable downloading a tool to run to ensure that the appropriate information is captured in the correct format, we offer the lmtools program for download. It does not require installation, it is a standalone program.
To use lmtools to get the MAC address, first download the lmtools.exe (1.5MB) program to your PC. Then run the program from the location you downloaded it to.
From the "System Settings" tab, choose the option marked "Save Host ID Info to a File".
In the "Save As" dialog, enter an appropriate filename for the resulting text file (e.g. "hostinfo.txt")
For users planning to directly submit an evaluation license request via email, please attach the resulting text file to the email. For those planning to use the request form, the recommended procedure is to open the text file and locate the section titled "Ethernet Address". Immediately below that label will be one or more 12 digit hexadecimal strings, possibly enclosed in quotation marks. Please use that information to fill out the appropriate data field.