What is a SID..??

[prasad_den]

Hi all,
What is a SID in a computer...? Do all PCs have it..? And what happens if a SID is changed in my PC.. does it cause any problems?
Recently I came across a S/W when I was rummaging through my pile of CDs --- it is called "newsid" and when I run it, it says that its gonna change my PC's SID and asks me if it should assign a random SID...!

 

[Possible]

I think Wiki knows more than I do here...
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Identifier

 

[thinkdigitreader]

A security identifier (SID) is a unique value of variable length that is used to identify a security principal or security group in Windows operating systems. Well-known SIDs are a group of SIDs that identify generic users or generic groups. Their values remain constant across all operating systems.

 

[prasad_den]

^^ Well... I can't understand anything of that..
@ Possible: I'm checking the wiki link now...

What about the rest of the questions...?? Can it be changed safely in a PC..??

 

[Possible]

I don't know about that but that program you mention is Microsoft's own...
*www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/NewSid.mspx

 

[anandk]

thanx all ! for asking and for answering

 

[prasad_den]

@anandk: welcome..!!

Can anyone answer the remaining queries..??

 

[piyush gupta]

Thanx guys

Whata re remaining queryies?

 

[prasad_den]

^^
What happens if a SID is changed in my PC.. does it cause any problems?

 

[it_waaznt_me]

NewSid is a very usefull tool. I'll tell you why it is used.
When you are an administrator managing 100s of computers and you have to install same set of software on all of the PCs (Operating System + common softwares) , you'll need to run installers on all PCs which is very time consuming. Provided that these systems are identical in configuration and need same software, you'll create an image of a computer where all the softwares have been installed and then you put this image to all other computers. This takes very less time comparing to installing OS then drivers then softwares on all individual pcs and is called Cloning.

Now the problem with cloning is it will also put the same SID (security identifier) on all Pcs.. Which will be very problematic when all these hosts join the network. NewSid will change the SID of computers to a new random value so that they can easily be managed over the network or Active Directory.

If you are having only one PC, and you dont use Ghost or DriveImage, you dont need to change your SID and it wont have any negative or positive effect on your system.


Phew ... I typed a long post after a long time .. ...

 

[Pathik]

thanx all ! for asking and for answering

loll

 

[prasad_den]

@it_ waaznt_me: Thanks... That cleared a lot of my doubts.. and was pretty useful.

Thanks again for making a long post...

Now you have created one more doubt: Is cloning legal..?? And are there softwares for it..?? I'm googling it.. but if someone can answer....

 

[anandk]

loll

thats bcoz i learnt something new here

 

[it_waaznt_me]

How come ...???