Compaq Deskpro, Evo UUID Setting

Hello all...

I have a number of Compaq Deskpro 686P2, 686P3 and Evo D500, 510
series (686O2) systems. All of these seem to be pretty closely
related, and all of them have a setting in the BIOS known as the
"UUID".

This setting is disabled by default, and Compaq's in-setup help isn't
very helpful, stating that changing the setting "enables or disables
the UUID".

What does this setting do?

William

"William R. Walsh" <> wrote in message
news:c4f00af6-5d1a-4e29-9ca6-...
> Hello all...
>
> I have a number of Compaq Deskpro 686P2, 686P3 and Evo D500, 510
> series (686O2) systems. All of these seem to be pretty closely
> related, and all of them have a setting in the BIOS known as the
> "UUID".
>
> This setting is disabled by default, and Compaq's in-setup help isn't
> very helpful, stating that changing the setting "enables or disables
> the UUID".
>
> What does this setting do?
>
> William
search anywhere for info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUID

It would use your PC's serial number, and maybe its ethernet MAC address etc
to come up with "some number".
Original "intent" was to make your pc/visit to a website 'special' so when
you returned /transmitted data to any other computer, it 'guaranteed'
security and make things easier by already knowing everything about you.
Great on paper, but who wants the world to know that. So now disabled by
default. ( I bought a Compaq PC in 2002 that came with it enabled.)

Hi!

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUID

Thank you for the information. I did do a search, and that link came
up. I wasn't sure if it was relevant to what I was looking for. At a
second glance, it does seem to be.

> It would use your PC's serial number, and maybe its ethernet
> MAC address etc to come up with "some number".
> Original "intent" was to make your pc/visit to a website
> 'special' so when you returned /transmitted data to any
> other computer, it 'guaranteed' security and make things
> easier by already knowing everything about you.

It sounds a lot like the Pentium III on-CPU serial number. (I well
remember the controversy over that.)

> Great on paper, but who wants the world to know that.

So true, especially with all the "interesting" ways to try and keep
track of users visiting web sites, clicking on ads, etc.

William