get unique machine id

Question

I want to get unique unchangeable Machine id Like Processor serial number of the computer for distribute a software with out copying   I tried with processor serial number and hard disk serial number that all are changing after formatting and reinstalling the windows    Any idea how i can get an unchangeable serial number of a computer

User · Answer

There are two ways possible to this that I know:

Get the Processor id of the system:

public string getCPUId()
{
    string cpuInfo = string.Empty;
    ManagementClass mc = new ManagementClass("win32_processor");
    ManagementObjectCollection moc = mc.GetInstances();

    foreach (ManagementObject mo in moc)
    {
        if (cpuInfo == "")
        {
            //Get only the first CPU's ID
            cpuInfo = mo.Properties["processorID"].Value.ToString();
            break;
        }
    }
    return cpuInfo;
}

Get UUID of the system:

public string getUUID()
{
        Process process = new Process();
        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
        startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
        startInfo.FileName = "CMD.exe";
        startInfo.Arguments = "/C wmic csproduct get UUID";
        process.StartInfo = startInfo;
        process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
        process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
        process.Start();
        process.WaitForExit();
        string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
        return output;
}

User · Answer

Yes  We could get a code which is combination of Physical Address  Unique Drive ID  Hard Drive ID  Volume Serial   CPU ID and BIOS ID   Example  Full example      Main physical hard drive ID     private static string diskId                 return identifier  Win32 DiskDrive    Model             identifier  Win32 DiskDrive    Manufacturer             identifier  Win32 DiskDrive    Signature             identifier  Win32 DiskDrive    TotalHeads                Motherboard ID     private static string baseId                 return identifier  Win32 BaseBoard    Model             identifier  Win32 BaseBoard    Manufacturer             identifier  Win32 BaseBoard    Name             identifier  Win32 BaseBoard    SerialNumber

User · Answer

I d stay well away from using MAC addresses  On some hardware  the MAC address can change when you reboot   We learned quite early during our research not to rely on it   Take a look at the article Developing for Software Protection and Licensing which has some pointers on how to design  amp  implement apps to reduce piracy   Obligatory disclaimer  amp  plug  the company I co-founded produces the OffByZero Cobalt licensing solution  So it probably won t surprise you to hear that I recommend outsourcing your licensing   amp  focusing on your core competencies

User · Answer

edit  I just saw you meant in c   Here is a better way with unmanaged code   ManagementClass oMClass   new ManagementClass   Win32 NetworkAdapterConfiguration    ManagementObjectCollection colMObj   oMCLass GetInstances    foreach ManagementObject objMO in colMObj      Console WriteLine objMO  MacAddress   ToString

User · Answer

If you need a unique ID  you must first decide on your definition of unique  If you want intend to use it for a copy-protection mechanism  then use something simple  This is because if someone really wants to use your software   s he will find a way to break your protection  given enough time and skill  In the case of a unique hardware ID  just think about virtual machines and you ll see that it is possible to spoof anything so someone can tamper with your software   There is not much you can take from a PC and consider it as uniqueness over its whole lifetime   Hardware changes will most likely require regenerating the ID at some point   If you need something like that  you should investigate using an authentication USB Dongle which you can send to your customers   If you just need some unique identifier that is not as hard to obtain  you could take the MAC address  unreliable   the OS serial number or the domain and user s name  but all of them are susceptible to forgery  However  if your main goal is to lock out unauthorised people  you won t sell anything because no one will want to use your software if it is hard to install  register or to move from one PC to another  although the last consideration is part and parcel of per-machine licensing   This will likely happen quite often    As a first step  make it easy  Use something simple which is not easy to spoof in your target group   For example  domain and user names can t be easily spoofed by enterprise customers  because their PCs are running in a larger environment implementing policies  etc   Just forget about the others until you have that   Maybe you can lock them out but that doesn t mean they re going to buy your software  they just won t use it anymore  What you have to consider is how many potential customers won t be or aren t willing to pay because you made it so complicated to use your program

User · Answer

You can use WMI Code creator  I guess you can have a combination of  keys   processorid mac and software generated key     using System Management  using System Windows Forms   try        ManagementObjectSearcher searcher             new ManagementObjectSearcher  root  CIMV2    SELECT   FROM Win32 Processor           foreach  ManagementObject queryObj in searcher Get                    Console WriteLine  -----------------------------------             Console WriteLine  Win32 Processor instance             Console WriteLine  -----------------------------------             Console WriteLine  Architecture   0    queryObj  Architecture              Console WriteLine  Caption   0    queryObj  Caption              Console WriteLine  Family   0    queryObj  Family              Console WriteLine  ProcessorId   0    queryObj  ProcessorId              catch  ManagementException e        MessageBox Show  An error occurred while querying for WMI data      e Message       Win32 Processor  Retrieving Hardware Identifiers in C  with WMI by Peter Bromberg

User · Answer

You should not use MAC  its bad way  Because some OS just changeing it every day  My expirience   Tools CpuID ProcessorId     volumeSerial   string volumeSerial           try           ManagementObject dsk   new ManagementObject   win32 logicaldisk deviceid   C               dsk Get            volumeSerial   dsk  VolumeSerialNumber   ToString          catch           try               ManagementObject dsk   new ManagementObject   win32 logicaldisk deviceid   D                   dsk Get                volumeSerial   dsk  VolumeSerialNumber   ToString              catch   File WriteAllText  disk mising   need C or D    Environment Exit 0            public class CpuID                DllImport  user32   EntryPoint    CallWindowProcW   CharSet   CharSet Unicode  SetLastError   true  ExactSpelling   true           private static extern IntPtr CallWindowProcW  In  byte   bytes  IntPtr hWnd  int msg   In  Out  byte   wParam  IntPtr lParam             return  MarshalAs UnmanagedType Bool            DllImport  kernel32   CharSet   CharSet Unicode  SetLastError   true           public static extern bool VirtualProtect  In  byte   bytes  IntPtr size  int newProtect  out int oldProtect            const int PAGE EXECUTE READWRITE   0x40             public static string ProcessorId                         byte   sn   new byte 8                if   ExecuteCode ref sn                   return  ND                return string Format   0  1    BitConverter ToUInt32 sn  4  ToString  X8    BitConverter ToUInt32 sn  0  ToString  X8                        private static bool ExecuteCode ref byte   result                int num              The opcodes below implement a C function with the signature               stdcall CpuIdWindowProc hWnd  Msg  wParam  lParam              with wParam interpreted as an 8 byte unsigned character buffer                         byte   code x86   new byte                 0x55                          push ebp                0x89  0xe5                    mov  ebp  esp                0x57                          push edi                0x8b  0x7d  0x10              mov  edi   ebp 0x10                 0x6a  0x01                    push 0x1                0x58                          pop  eax                0x53                          push ebx                0x0f  0xa2                    cpuid                   0x89  0x07                    mov   edi   eax                0x89  0x57  0x04              mov   edi 0x4   edx                0x5b                          pop  ebx                0x5f                          pop  edi                0x89  0xec                    mov  esp  ebp                0x5d                          pop  ebp                0xc2  0x10  0x00              ret  0x10                       byte   code x64   new byte                 0x53                                         push rbx                0x48  0xc7  0xc0  0x01  0x00  0x00  0x00     mov rax  0x1                0x0f  0xa2                                   cpuid                0x41  0x89  0x00                             mov  r8   eax                0x41  0x89  0x50  0x04                       mov  r8 0x4   edx                0x5b                                         pop rbx                0xc3                                         ret                        byte   code           if  IsX64Process                code   code x64          else              code   code x86           IntPtr ptr   new IntPtr code Length            if   VirtualProtect code  ptr  PAGE EXECUTE READWRITE  out num               Marshal ThrowExceptionForHR Marshal GetHRForLastWin32Error              ptr   new IntPtr result Length            try               return  CallWindowProcW code  IntPtr Zero  0  result  ptr     IntPtr Zero             catch   System Windows Forms MessageBox Show                       return false                   private static bool IsX64Process                         return IntPtr Size    8

User · Answer

Maybe the easiest way is  Get the DeviceId Nuget package   And use it like   string deviceId   new DeviceIdBuilder    AddMachineName    AddMacAddress    AddProcessorId    AddMotherboardSerialNumber    ToString      You can personalize the info used to generate the ID  Github Project

User · Answer

Check out this article  It is very exhaustive and you will find how to extract various hardware information   Quote from the article      To get hardware information  you need to create an object of ManagementObjectSearcher class    using System Management  ManagementObjectSearcher searcher   new ManagementObjectSearcher  select   from     Key   foreach  ManagementObject share in searcher Get             Some Codes            The Key on the code above  is a variable that is replaced with appropriate data  For example  to get the information of the CPU  you have to replace the Key with Win32 Processor

User · Answer

The following site uses System Management to accomplish the same is a very sleek way in a console application

User · Answer

I second Blindy s suggestion to use the MAC address of the  first   network adapter  Yes  the MAC address can be spoofed  but this has side effects  you don t want two PCs with the same MAC address in the same network   and it s something that  your average pirate  won t do just to be able to use your software  Considering that there s no 100  solution against software piracy  the MAC address is a good compromise  IMO   Note  however  that the address will change when the user adds  replaces or removes a network card  or replaces his old PC altogether   so be prepared to help your customers and give them a new key when they change their hardware configuration

[c#] get unique machine id

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