Lenovo Change Serial Number

4/3/2019
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Lenovo Change Serial Number Rating: 6,4/10 3457 reviews
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How to change Model Type and Serial Number of Thinkpad

If you change a system board on a Thinkpad laptop, chances are you might encounter 2200, 2201 errors.
2200: Machine Type and Serial Number are invalid.

After ~8 hours of searching on Internet, trying different methods, I've finally successfully changed/added Model typle and S/N to my friend's X230.
The laptop had its system board or mother board replaced. The replacement came from ebay with model type & S/N blank.
It was a painfully long process to figure things out. And my windows 10 added a huge hassle to the would-be-easy process. The Internet doesn't have a very straightforward instruction on it. And they are all pretty old.
Basically you need to use a service utility calledThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Diskette (HMD) to make a bootable USB flash drive. It used to be on floppy disk but it can make bootable USB stick too now.

Preparation.

  • Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 should work). Haven't tried windows 8.
  • DO NOT use windows 10, won't work
  • USB flash drive
  • ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Diskette, the newer the better.
  • Write down the Model Type & S/N from your label on the machine.

Steps.

  1. Download ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Diskette (HMD). I have 1.83 attached here. You can certainly find other versions on the Internet somewhere.
  2. DO NOT use windows 10!! I've only tried windows 10 & 7, both 64 bit. Windows 7 worked with all my flash drives. But the application will not find your USB stick on windows 10.
  3. Unzip the TP HMD. Use 'usbfmtpw.exe' to make a bootable HMD USB. If it says 'Error: Drive not found to format', then it's very likely it can't run on your OS (Windows 10 for instance). Otherwise, you will see a format window. Make sure it's your flash drive. Don't worry about the size. You can always format it in windows, and the flash drive will turn back to normal.
  4. Boot your Thinkpad with the USB stick you just made. You might need to hit 'F12' to open the boot options to choose it. You will see a blue screen with some descriptions of the tool.
  5. Choose option 1, '1. set S/N.. ' or something like that. I can't remember now, but it's pretty straightforward once you are at this step.
  6. Follow the instructions. It's pretty easy. You will need to input the Model Type and SN together, with '1S' at the beginning. Say, model type 1234CTO, SN 56789AB, you will need to input '1S1234CTO56789AB'. It may vary depending on your machine.
  7. Then simply reboot.
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How to Find Serial Number of Hard Drive in Windows

Sometimes abbreviated as Serial No., SN or S/N, a serial number is a unique number assigned to the PC by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) used for identification and inventory purposes. A serial number allows the manufacturer to identify a product and get additional information about it, for replacement, or as a means of finding compatible parts.
This tutorial will show you how to find the manufacturer serial number of hard drives (HHD and SSD) in Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10.

CONTENTS:
  • Option One: To Find Serial Number of Hard Drive on Manufacturing Label
  • Option Two: To Find Serial Number of Hard Drives in Command Prompt
  • Option Three: To Find Serial Number of Hard Drives in PowerShell

To Find Serial Number of Hard Drive on Manufacturing Label

Each hard drive manufacturer's label will vary slightly, so you may need to check their support site for specific details on how to find the serial number on their label.

1. Look for the serial number on the label on top of the physical hard drive. (see screenshot below)

To Find Serial Number of Hard Drives in Command Prompt

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Enter the command below into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
3. You will now see the model, name, and serial number listed for your hard drives.
The Name will give your the physical drive number that is the same disk number in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to help ID the drives.


To Find Serial Number of Hard Drives in PowerShell

1. Open PowerShell.
2. Enter the command below into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Get-WMIObject win32_physicalmedia Format-List Tag,SerialNumber

3. You will now see the tag (name) and serial number listed for your hard drives.
The Tag will give your the physical drive number that is the same disk number in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to help ID the drives.


That's it,
Shawn