Methods and systems for recognizing a client computer as a replacement for a previous client computer or as being new to a computer network. When a client computer is connected to a server in a computer network, the client computer sends its unique identifier to the server. The server compares the unique identifier against a list of known unique identifiers. If the server determines that the unique identifier is unknown, the client computer prompts the user to select one of a list of user options, which include, for example, a replacement computer option and a new computer option. If the user selects the replacement computer option, the user also identifies the previous computer that has been replaced. The server then replaces the previous computer's unique identifier with the replacement computer's unique identifier, and assigns the replacement computer to an appropriate server computer. If the user instead selects the new computer option, the server assigns the new computer to an appropriate server computer. The methods may further include identifying the hardware components of the new or replacement computer and modifying operating system components with little or no user assistance.