Registering and Unregistering Computers

Adding/Registering Computer

Students should fill out this form. Your computer should be registered within a week of filling out the form, and probably much sooner than that.

For everyone else, to add a new machine to the network and allow it to access the Internet, it must first be registered with FAS Computing. This is done by sending an e-mail to fas.pol.computing@nyu.edu with the subject line "New Computer Registration". The e-mail should include the following:

  • User's Name
  • Room Number of Office
  • Office Phone Number of user.
  • Computer Model (e.g. "IBM Thinkpad T41") or "custom" if assembled from parts.
  • Serial Number of computer
  • Operating System (e.g. Windows XP, OS X, Linux)
  • MAC Address (also called "Hardware Address" -- see below)

E-mail to fas.pol.computing@nyu.edu is archived, so these request must be sent to that address. In the meantime, make sure that the computer is set to use DHCP (dynamic IP addresses -- usually the default). The people at FAS Computing will find an available IP address and assign it to your network card. Because FAS Computing only deals with a certain subset of the entire NYU network, IP addresses are not an unlimited resource. Once all possible host address are exhausted from the Politics subnet, further subnetting and network restructuring by ITS will be required.

Obtaining the MAC (Hardware) Address

Every network card has a unique built-in address known as the MAC Address. MAC Addresses are 12-digit hexadecimal (0-9 and A-F) values which generally start with two zeroes and which may or may not be delimited with colons or dots, e.g. "00:12:03:F3:AA:92" or 001203F3AA92. On a laptop, it may be printed on a label on the bottom of the system. If the number cannot be easily read off the computer, here are other instructions for how to get the MAC address:

Instructions for Windows Vista/XP/2000

Instructions for OS X

Linux: use the /sbin/ifconfig command

Be sure to get the MAC address corresponding to your computer's regular network card, not its modem or wireless network card.

Removing/Unregistering Computer

Since IP addresses are a limited resource, it would be helpful if the owners would unregister their old computers when they are no longer in use. Students can unregister their computers at this website. For everyone else, send an e-mail to fas.pol.computing@nyu.edu with the subject line "Unregistering a Computer". This e-mail only needs:

  • User's name
  • MAC Address (also called "Hardware Address" -- see above)

Replacing One Computer with Another

The most obvious way to go about this is to unregister one computer and register another computer. This does not guarantee that the IP address will remain the same. If for some reason you wish to preserve the IP address (e.g. if the computer is a server), please say so the e-mail. Otherwise the IP address may be reassigned to another computer. For most people this will not be an issue.