PureBasic Forums - English

Hi,

Im trying to search a forums wher we talk about getting the HD serial and someone talk about a better serial that dosent change if the user reinstall windows.

Ok, i remember that we talk about softice on that post and i try to use it as a key to the search and cant find that post.

1.- Does anybody knows which is the serial number that im talking about? (Its Firmware? Does it really dosent change?)

2.- Does the 'search' feature works right?

I believe it was this one viewtopic.php?t=2161&highlight=serial+harddisk

Searched for Serial AND Harddisk

Berikco wrote:I believe it was this one viewtopic.php?t=2161&highlight=serial+harddisk

Searched for Serial AND Harddisk

Hi Berikco!!

Nop, it this one (i found it in google but cant find it here!!!)

http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:n8 ... s&ie=UTF-8

If i try to search 'firmware' (per example) on the SEARCH i dont get nothing and the word is on the post, if you look the Google cached page.

Yes, i remember that on, i browsed whole beginner section, seems missing...

ricardo wrote: 1.- Does anybody knows which is the serial number that im talking about? (Its Firmware? Does it really dosent change?)

Hi Ricardo,

I started converting this code

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;208048

into Purebasic, but am stuck for two reasons: Time and Knowledge

The C source compiles well with Bloodshed Dev-C++ (is under the GNU license) from http://www.bloodshed.net.

If you are interested in what I got transferred, then drop me a call.

And yep, that number doesn't change.

> I started converting this code
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;208048

The problem is that not all drives support SMART technology, and some
people (like me) disable it on purpose. In such cases, your app wouldn't
be able to be used by customers... something to consider.

PB wrote:>The problem is that not all drives support SMART technology, and some
people (like me) disable it on purpose. In such cases, your app wouldn't
be able to be used by customers... something to consider.

From how I understood the code the firmware info gets shown anyway, regardless of SMART or not.

Did not try it though as the SMART part is the interesting thing for me.
Maybe I will grab an old HDD tomorrow...

PB wrote:The problem is that not all drives support SMART technology, and some
people (like me) disable it on purpose. In such cases, your app wouldn't
be able to be used by customers... something to consider.

Yes, i just learn it last night, because my code works fine in one PC but in my other PC dosent works and trying to find the problem i found exactly what PB mention.

Is there any other number that dosent change if the user reinstall windows?

> Is there any other number that dosent change if the user reinstall windows?

Sure -- the size (in MB) of the drive. They can format/reinstall as much as
desired and this won't change (unless they partition the drive). See the
post by Freak at this URL:

viewtopic.php?t=4127

ricardo wrote:

PB wrote:Is there any other number that dosent change if the user reinstall windows?

Guess there is no omnipotent solution.

1. Retrieving the serial number of the drive

Not necessarily bound on SMART - there are examples around - and really unique. But most only work on ATAPI drives.

http://codeguru.com/system/DiskId32.shtml

2. Using the size of the HDD

Not really unique but easily retrievable. Question: is it dependant on the cluster size when formatting, not that it is calced slightly different, though it should not be?

3. Using the Windows Product Key from the Registry

Easily retrievable; Theoratically unique - until a user shares it. Would likely come down to "Good chance that user who bought will use on various PCs of him and maybe share with friends who used the same copy of Win".

Any other halfway unique & not changing numbers?

Still, #1 would be the most secure. But would require the most efforts to get it running.

I guess I would go for a combination of #2 and #3.

PB wrote:> Is there any other number that dosent change if the user reinstall windows?

Sure -- the size (in MB) of the drive. They can format/reinstall as much as
desired and this won't change (unless they partition the drive). See the
post by Freak at this URL:

viewtopic.php?t=4127

Unfortunately, the code posted there doesn't work right since PB 3.1.
(Changes have been made to '<<')

Get a working one here:
http://www.reelmediaproductions.com/pb/ ... ace_31.zip

Timo

> 1. Retrieving the serial number of the drive
> #1 would be the most secure.

Not so -- there is at least one freeware app that lets the user change his
HD serial to anything (such as another user's). Checking for the total HD
size is more secure because the user can't copy it (it's hardware).

One question:

Is really unique the size in MB of the HD?

> Is really unique the size in MB of the HD?

Yes. That is, your HD is a different size to mine, and to millions of other
people around the world. Even if we both have 100 GB drives, it's very
likely that mine has a slightly different amount of space to yours (based
on cluster size, file-system used, etc).