You got hardware banned from Valorant. You made a new account, used a fresh email, picked a different username, and launched the game. Banned again within 30 minutes. Sound familiar? That's because you're dealing with Riot Vanguard, and it's not like other anti-cheat systems. If you don't understand how Vanguard HWID bans actually work, you're going to keep getting flagged no matter how many new accounts you create.

Here's the thing — Vanguard operates at the kernel level and runs from the moment your PC boots up. It's not just checking if you're cheating when you launch the game. It's building a detailed hardware fingerprint of your entire system and comparing it against a database of banned machine IDs. If your hardware identifier matches, you're done before you even reach the main menu.

Let me break down exactly how Vanguard works, what it's detecting, and how HWID spoofers actually function to address these hardware-level bans.

What Makes Vanguard Different From Other Anti Cheat Systems

Riot Vanguard isn't your typical anti-cheat. When Riot Games launched it alongside Valorant, they made a deliberate choice to go deeper than competitors. While other anti-cheat software like Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye load when you start a game, Vanguard loads at system boot — before most other drivers even initialize.

So the way it works is this: Vanguard has two components. There's the client that runs when you play Valorant, and there's a kernel-level driver (vgk.sys) that starts with Windows. That driver sits at ring-0, the deepest level of system access, which gives it permission to see everything happening on your machine.

Why does this matter for hardware bans? Because by the time you've finished booting up, Vanguard has already collected your hardware fingerprint. It's pulled your disk serial numbers, your motherboard UUID, your MAC addresses, your SMBIOS data, and potentially even your TPM information. All of this happens before you can do anything to interfere with it.

The Valorant community on Reddit is full of posts from people who tried basic fixes and got instantly banned again. They didn't understand that Vanguard's boot-time operation gives it a massive advantage over any solution that loads later in the startup sequence.

Which Hardware Identifiers Vanguard Actually Collects

Let's get technical, because understanding exactly what Vanguard is tracking is the foundation for understanding how spoofers work.

Vanguard builds a device fingerprint from multiple hardware identifiers:

  • Disk Serial Numbers — Not your volume serial (which changes when you format), but the hardware serial number burned into your drive's firmware. Vanguard queries this using IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY calls.

  • Motherboard UUID — Your motherboard has a unique identifier stored in SMBIOS tables. This doesn't change unless you swap the actual motherboard.

  • MAC Addresses — Your network adapters each have a unique media access control address. Vanguard collects these from every adapter on your system.

  • SMBIOS Data — System Management BIOS tables contain serial numbers for your motherboard, baseboard, and system enclosure. This is manufacturer-level identification data.

  • GPU Identifiers — Your graphics card has serial numbers and identification data that Vanguard can access.

  • Registry Fingerprints — Various Windows registry keys contain installation-specific data and machine GUIDs that contribute to your overall fingerprint.

  • TPM Data — If your system has a Trusted Platform Module (which most modern PCs do for Windows 11), Vanguard may collect cryptographic identifiers from it.

The important part is understanding that Vanguard doesn't rely on just one of these. It creates a composite fingerprint from multiple sources. This is why changing your MAC address alone, or formatting your drive, doesn't work. If even a few of these identifiers still match the banned fingerprint, you get flagged.

According to Riot's official support documentation, hardware bans are reserved for the most severe violations and are designed to be extremely difficult to circumvent. They're not exaggerating.

How HWID Banning Actually Works in Vanguard

When Riot issues you a permanent hardware ban, here's what happens on the technical side.

Your hardware fingerprint — that composite of all those identifiers we just discussed — gets added to a server-side database. Every time any account attempts to connect from your machine, Vanguard compares the current hardware fingerprint against this database. Match found? Instant ban on the new account.

This is different from an account suspension. An account ban means that specific account can't play, but you could theoretically make a new one and continue. A hardware ban means your entire PC is flagged. It doesn't matter what account you use or whose login credentials you enter — if Vanguard recognizes your hardware, you're banned.

The other thing people don't realize is that Vanguard's fingerprinting is fuzzy, not exact. It uses a confidence-based matching system. Your fingerprint doesn't need to be 100% identical to the banned one. If enough identifiers match above a certain threshold, the system considers it the same machine.

This is why partial solutions fail. You might successfully change three or four identifiers, but if Vanguard is tracking eight and five of them still match, you're still above the confidence threshold. The r/VALORANT subreddit has countless posts from people who learned this the hard way.

Do you see why just buying a new hard drive isn't enough? You've changed one identifier out of potentially eight or more. The fingerprint still matches.

Why Common Solutions Fail Against Vanguard

I guarantee most of you reading this have already tried at least one of these methods. Let me save you some time by explaining why each one fails against Vanguard's detection system.

Reformatting Your Drive

This changes your volume serial number, but not your disk's hardware serial number. Vanguard reads the hardware serial directly from the drive controller. Format all you want — that hardware identifier stays exactly the same.

Reinstalling Windows

Same problem. A fresh Windows installation generates new volume serials and some new registry GUIDs, but all your actual hardware serials remain unchanged. You've just wasted a few hours.

Using a VPN

VPNs change your IP address. Vanguard doesn't primarily use IP addresses for hardware identification. IP bans are trivially easy to circumvent, which is exactly why anti-cheat systems moved to hardware fingerprinting years ago. Your VPN does nothing against an HWID ban.

Creating New Accounts

This should be obvious by now. The ban is on your hardware, not your account. Riot doesn't care what email address you use or what username you pick. If your machine fingerprint matches, the new account gets banned immediately.

Changing Your MAC Address Through Windows

You can easily change your MAC address through adapter properties or registry edits. The problem? Vanguard collects the hardware MAC burned into your adapter's firmware, not just the software-configurable one. Plus, you've only addressed one of many identifiers.

Registry Cleaning

Cleaning registry keys might remove some fingerprint components, but you're not addressing the hardware serials themselves. It's like changing your name tag while keeping your fingerprints — you're still identifiable.

The pattern here should be clear. Surface-level changes don't work because Vanguard reads hardware-level data that survives software modifications. Understanding this is essential before you can understand how spoofers actually bypass these detection methods.

How Vanguard HWID Spoofers Actually Work

So now we get to the core question: what do HWID spoofers actually do, and how do they work against a system as aggressive as Vanguard?

The idea is that a spoofer intercepts the requests that Vanguard makes when it queries your hardware identifiers and returns fake, randomized data instead of your real serials. But the execution is where everything gets complicated.

For a spoofer to work against Vanguard, it needs to operate at the kernel level — same as Vanguard itself. If a spoofer runs at user-level (ring-3), Vanguard's kernel driver can bypass it entirely and read your actual hardware identifiers directly. The spoofer would be completely invisible to the anti-cheat, which means it would accomplish nothing.

Here's where boot order becomes critical. Since Vanguard loads at system startup, a working spoofer needs to load before Vanguard's driver initializes. If Vanguard loads first and captures your real hardware fingerprint, it doesn't matter what the spoofer does afterward — the damage is already done.

A proper Vanguard spoofer does the following:

  • Loads before vgk.sys — It needs to inject into the boot sequence early enough to intercept hardware queries before Vanguard makes them.

  • Operates at kernel level — Ring-0 access is mandatory to intercept the low-level IOCTL calls that Vanguard uses.

  • Spoofs all collected identifiers — Disk serials, motherboard UUID, MAC addresses, SMBIOS data, GPU IDs, and any other fingerprint components.

  • Provides consistent randomization — The fake values need to be consistent across reboots (until you want to change them) or Vanguard might flag the instability as suspicious.

  • Avoids detection signatures — Vanguard actively scans for known spoofers. If the tool itself gets detected, you're banned regardless of whether the spoofing was successful.

This last point is crucial. There's a constant cat-and-mouse game between anti-cheat developers and spoofer developers. Riot updates Vanguard regularly specifically to detect new spoofing methods. A spoofer that worked last month might be detected today.

What You Need for a Spoofer to Work Against Vanguard

Let me be direct about the technical requirements for effectively spoofing hardware identifiers against Vanguard.

Kernel-Level Access

The spoofer must have a signed driver or a method to load an unsigned driver that can operate at ring-0. This is non-negotiable against Vanguard.

Early Boot Loading

The spoofer needs to load before Vanguard's driver initializes. This typically requires modifying the boot sequence or using specialized loader techniques.

Complete Identifier Coverage

Every hardware identifier that Vanguard collects needs to be addressed. Partial spoofing leaves you vulnerable to fingerprint matching.

Clean System State

Before running a spoofer, you need to ensure there are no leftover traces from your banned state. Old registry values, cached data, or linked accounts can all re-establish your identity.

Undetected Status

The spoofer itself needs to be currently undetected by Vanguard. Using a detected tool is essentially volunteering for a ban.

Regular Updates

Because anti-cheat systems update frequently, any effective spoofer needs regular updates to stay ahead of new detection methods.

This is why free tools you find on random Discord servers almost never work against Vanguard. Building and maintaining kernel-level software that stays undetected against an actively-developed anti-cheat requires significant ongoing effort.

Common Mistakes That Get People Banned Again

Even with a legitimate spoofer, people make mistakes that lead to instant re-detection. Here are the most common issues I see:

Not Spoofing All Identifiers

You changed your disk serial and MAC address but forgot about SMBIOS data. Vanguard still has enough data points to match you. Always verify that all relevant identifiers are being spoofed.

Wrong Boot Order

Your spoofer loads after Vanguard's driver. By that point, Vanguard has already captured your real hardware fingerprint. The spoofer is useless.

Using Linked Accounts

You created a new account but used the same payment method, the same email domain, or friends-listed your banned account. Riot connects the dots through account linking, not just hardware.

Leftover Registry Traces

Your old Valorant installation left behind registry keys and cache files that identify your previous banned state. A full clean installation process is necessary.

Using Detected Tools

The spoofer you downloaded was already added to Vanguard's signature database. Running it is essentially telling Riot "I'm trying to evade a ban."

Inconsistent Hardware Profiles

Your spoofed identifiers change every reboot. While this might seem like good randomization, the instability itself can be flagged as suspicious behavior.

Not Disabling Telemetry

Windows sends hardware data to Microsoft, which can be cross-referenced. If you're serious about maintaining a clean hardware fingerprint, system-level telemetry needs to be addressed.

How to Verify Your Hardware Identifiers Changed

Before you even think about launching Valorant after spoofing, you need to verify that the changes actually took effect. Here's what to check:

  • Use Device Manager to view device properties and compare serial numbers against your original values
  • Run command line tools like wmic commands to query disk and motherboard serials
  • Check your network adapter's MAC address through ipconfig /all
  • Verify SMBIOS data using third-party system information tools
  • Compare all values against what you recorded before spoofing

If any identifier matches your pre-spoof values, the spoofing failed for that component and you'll likely get re-banned immediately.

The other thing is making sure there's no connection between your new account and old banned accounts. Different email provider, different payment method, don't add your old friends right away, and play from a different IP address initially.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vanguard HWID Spoofers

What is an HWID ban?

An HWID ban is a hardware-level ban that flags your computer's unique hardware fingerprint. Unlike account bans that affect only one login, hardware ID bans prevent any account from playing on your specific machine. Vanguard creates this fingerprint from multiple components including your disk serial numbers, motherboard UUID, MAC addresses, and SMBIOS data.

How does HWID banning work?

When you get hardware banned, the anti-cheat system records your machine's composite hardware fingerprint to a server-side database. Every time any account connects, the system compares the current machine's fingerprint against banned entries. A match (even a partial match above the confidence threshold) results in immediate account suspension.

Can you bypass an HWID ban?

Technically, yes. HWID spoofers work by intercepting hardware queries and returning randomized fake values instead of your real identifiers. However, bypassing Vanguard specifically requires kernel-level operation, proper boot timing, and complete coverage of all collected identifiers. Surface-level methods like formatting drives or using VPNs don't work.

Are HWID spoofers safe?

This depends entirely on the specific tool. Legitimate spoofers from reputable sources that receive regular updates can be effective against current anti-cheat detection. Free tools from random Discord servers are frequently detected, outdated, or contain malware. Always verify the reputation and detection status of any tool before using it.

How long do HWID bans last?

Riot's hardware bans are typically permanent. Unlike temporary game bans that expire after a set period, HWID bans are intended to permanently prevent a player from accessing the game on their specific hardware. Riot's official stance is that these bans do not have expiration dates.

Wrapping Up What You Need to Know

So to kind of recap — Vanguard is one of the most aggressive anti-cheat systems in gaming because it operates at kernel level and loads at system boot. It builds a hardware fingerprint from multiple identifiers including disk serials, motherboard UUID, MAC addresses, SMBIOS data, and more.

Surface-level fixes like formatting, reinstalling Windows, using VPNs, or changing MAC addresses through software don't work because they don't address the hardware-level serials that Vanguard reads directly. The anti-cheat doesn't rely on any single identifier — it uses fuzzy matching across multiple data points.

HWID spoofers work by intercepting these hardware queries at the kernel level and returning fake values. But to work against Vanguard specifically, a spoofer needs to load before Vanguard's driver, operate at ring-0, cover all collected identifiers, and remain undetected. Missing any of these requirements means you're getting banned again.

The landscape changes constantly as Riot updates Vanguard to detect new evasion methods and spoofer developers respond with updates of their own. What works today might not work next month.

Hopefully this cleared up the confusion around how Vanguard works and what it actually takes to address a hardware ban. The more you understand about these systems, the better decisions you can make about your situation.