How to get the Hard Disk or Mother Board Id through C#

[moonangel_bio]

i need to secure an application using any hardware ID thanx Martyr

[SimonS]

Hope this helps. using System.Management; ... ManagementObject disk = new ManagementObject("Win32_LogicalDisk.DeviceID='C:'"); string volumeNumber= disk.Properties["VolumeSerialNumber"].Value.ToString(); Cheers, Simon > blog:: brokenkeyboards > my opinion of VS05 :: here > CV :: PDF > skype me! :: SimonMStewart

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Strt generating your own ID's 'cause getting them from the hardware is spotty at best. There is no standard that MUST be followed by all vendors for tagging their hardware. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Even the volume serial number can be copied. Try any app like Ghost and you can create an identical machine using the same VSN. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

[Dan Neely]

Dave Kreskowiak wrote:

Strt generating your own ID's 'cause getting them from the hardware is spotty at best. There is no standard that MUST be followed by all vendors for tagging their hardware.

I'm doing a "yes, but..." here. OEM versions of Windows use the moboID to enforce only installing the licence on a single computer (if you mobo has to be replaced you need a new serial, oem versions are only half as expensive though). Presumably this means there's no easy way to change/spoof it, otherwise MS would've elected a different enforcement method.

[SimonS]

Dave Kreskowiak wrote:

volume serial number can be copied

Granted, but he was looking for an answer to his question, not criticism of the idea. Regarding your other comment, one of the ways of doing key generation / app licensing is to make sure you can reproduce the key at will to recheck the user-supplier key against the code generated one. If you get fancy and use Guid.New or something similar, you'd have to store that on disk somehow to recheck the validity of the user's app. Cheers, Simon > blog:: brokenkeyboards > my opinion of VS05 :: here > CV :: PDF > skype me! :: SimonMStewart

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Like I said, there is no reliable method of getting an ID off the motherboard, or any other device for that matter. And, I've never had to get a new serial number for an OEM motherboard replacement. If you're talking about Windows XP's activation, there is no mobo ID in use. It gathers information from many different points in the system and registry to create a key. If the hardware changes too much, then the key breaks. But it does allow for limited changes in the system, like a replacement mobo, new hard drive, or changing out the video controller. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome