# Testing if you are Banned

## Checking for hardware bans

To check if you have an active hardware ban:

1. Create a new account: [How Bans Work](/learn/resources/bans.md#account-creation)
2. Play in-game (do not sit in the main menu) for **at least 120 minutes**

If you receive a ban, your PC is flagged. Move on to [#bypassing-a-hwid-ban](#bypassing-a-hwid-ban "mention")

### Bypassing a ban

{% hint style="info" %}
If you are banned from a game that requires a [Clean Windows Install](/learn/resources/windows-10-and-11-guides/clean-windows-install.md), follow that guide **first.**
{% endhint %}

Follow the steps in our spoofer guide - [How to Use](/tools-and-software/hardware-anonymizer/how-to-use.md)

### Still receiving bans?

Common causes of bans after using the spoofer:

* forgetting to - [/pages/fa7px19ZNo2I0G6Az7Nz#id-3.-using-the-clean-feature](https://docs.dexa.im/tools-and-software/hardware-anonymizer/pages/fa7px19ZNo2I0G6Az7Nz#id-3.-using-the-clean-feature "mention")

{% hint style="info" %}
Cleaning is necessary because it doesn't *just* clean files - it performs a number of additional operations to obfuscate the PC from fingerprinting techniques used by anti-cheat software.
{% endhint %}

* not changing the seed between bans - [/pages/fa7px19ZNo2I0G6Az7Nz#id-2.-understanding-the-seed-feature](https://docs.dexa.im/tools-and-software/hardware-anonymizer/pages/fa7px19ZNo2I0G6Az7Nz#id-2.-understanding-the-seed-feature "mention")
* some fingerprinting may remain, consider - [Clean Windows Install](/learn/resources/windows-10-and-11-guides/clean-windows-install.md)
  * unannounced hotfixes, patches, and updates by anti-cheat vendors means our spoofer may not remove all fingerprinting in rare cases; our team does update the spoofer often, but not 24/7

#### After all of that, I'm still being banned?

After taking all steps to correctly bypass bans, yet you are still receiving bans - the cheat itself could be detected. In this case, submit a [**#ban-report**](https://discord.com/channels/1165821096432513034/1243264127619563690) in our Discord server to help alert our team and help us  identify and potential detection vectors or the root-cause issue related to the ban.

{% hint style="info" %}
Even with all precautions taken, this does not mean for certain that any given cheat is detected. Consider other factors, such as [How Bans Work](/learn/resources/bans.md#ban-enforcement-obfuscation)
{% endhint %}


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