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I use Windows xp operating system in my laptop. What does a MAC address mean and what is the use of it ? How I can find the MAC address of my Acer 5740 laptop ? How a MAC address is different from an IP address ? In case of any theft , does the MAC address help to find the location of the Laptop.
In a network there are a number of physical segments,these physical segments communicate to each other with the help of network interfaces and these network interfaces are identified by a MAC Address or Machine Access Control address. These MAC address are allocated and assigned by the NIC(Network interface controller) card and are stored on the hardware, RAM chip or on any firmware such as BIOS. In the context of networking a MAC address is also referred as physical or hardware address.
An IP address is totally different from a MAC address . A MAC address is the physical address while any router or system is logically addressed with an IP address. IP address is storen in binary numbers but displayed in decimal or human readable format. Prior to the year 1995 the IP address in IPv4 was represented in 32 bit format with 4 octets and 8 bits in each in each octet. Due to the growth of internet, later on it was increased to 6 octets in IPv6. An IP address is also called as a protocol address or a logical address.
It is very difficult to know the location of the Laptop unless you know the MAC address of your Acer 5740 laptop. People have turned too smart these days, after stealing your laptop , the culprit might have spoofed the MAC address and changed it. If you are lucky and the MAC address is intact then you can trace the thief it he connects to the network.