Secure Boot is a UEFI feature that only lets digitally signed boot components load — its job is to block bootkits and rootkits before Windows starts.
Anti-cheats now require it
Since around 2023, major anti-cheats — Vanguard, EA's anti-cheat, FACEIT — require Secure Boot to be enabled. With it off, the game simply refuses to launch. Newer Windows 11 builds push this further toward hardware attestation.
The old "disable Secure Boot" trick is dead
There used to be tools that asked you to disable Secure Boot so they could load unsigned components. That approach is obsolete: anti-cheats now check Secure Boot status and reject the session if it is off. Any guide telling you to disable Secure Boot to change your HWID is years out of date.
How HWIDChanger fits
HWIDChanger does not need Secure Boot disabled. It works entirely from user mode through standard Windows interfaces — it installs no boot component and no kernel driver — so you keep Secure Boot on and keep playing. Leave Secure Boot enabled; a modern HWID tool should work alongside it, not against it.