Question

I am creating a license that is specific to a machine. The license is based on the following items:

1. MAC Address
2. CPU Serial Number
3. Computer Volume Serial Number of drive0

I am assuming that if 2 of the 3 match, then my license is valid. So, the can get a new network card, and the license is still valid, etc.

Is this a good approach or am I going to have issues with this not matching or changing regularly?

I’m trying to get a unique identifier for the computer so that I can validate the license.

Please let me know how this looks or if you have a better solution!

Thanks again!

** HERE IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH **

I ended up only using the VolumeSerial, CpuId, and VideoControllerDescription.

    public enum HardwareProfileComponents
    {
        ComputerModel,
        VolumeSerial,
        CpuId,
        MemoryCapacity,
        VideoControllerDescription
    }

    public static Dictionary<string, string> HardwareProfile()
    {
        var retval = new Dictionary<string, string>
                         {
                             {HardwareProfileComponents.ComputerModel.ToString(), GetComputerModel()},
                             {HardwareProfileComponents.VolumeSerial.ToString(), GetVolumeSerial()},
                             {HardwareProfileComponents.CpuId.ToString(), GetCpuId()},
                             {HardwareProfileComponents.MemoryCapacity.ToString(), GetMemoryAmount()},
                             {HardwareProfileComponents.VideoControllerDescription.ToString(), GetVideoControllerDescription()}
                         };
        return retval;

    }

    private static string GetVideoControllerDescription()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("GetVideoControllerDescription");

        var s1 = new ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_VideoController");
        foreach (ManagementObject oReturn in s1.Get())
        {
            var desc = oReturn["AdapterRam"];
            if ( desc == null) continue;
            return oReturn["Description"].ToString().Trim();
        }
        return string.Empty;
    }


    private static string GetComputerModel()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("GetComputerModel");
        var s1 = new ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_ComputerSystem"); 
        foreach (ManagementObject oReturn in s1.Get())
        {
            return oReturn["Model"].ToString().Trim();
        }            
        return string.Empty;
    }

    private static string GetMemoryAmount()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("GetMemoryAmount");
        var s1 = new ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_PhysicalMemory");
        foreach (ManagementObject oReturn in s1.Get())
        {
            return oReturn["Capacity"].ToString().Trim();
        }
        return string.Empty;
    }

    private static string GetVolumeSerial()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("GetVolumeSerial");
        var disk = new ManagementObject(@"win32_logicaldisk.deviceid=""c:""");
        disk.Get();

        string volumeSerial = disk["VolumeSerialNumber"].ToString();
        disk.Dispose();

        return volumeSerial;
    }

    private static string GetCpuId()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("GetCpuId");
        var managClass = new ManagementClass("win32_processor");
        var managCollec = managClass.GetInstances();

        foreach (ManagementObject managObj in managCollec)
        {
            //Get only the first CPU's ID
            return managObj.Properties["processorID"].Value.ToString();
        }
        return string.Empty;
    }

Answer 1

Here is a pretty decent article about how MS did it with Windows XP. Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s a great jumping-off point.

Windows XP Activation Explained

What hardware does Windows check?

The system checks these ten categories of hardware:

• Display Adapter
• SCSI Adapter
• IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
• Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
• RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
• Processor Type
• Processor Serial Number
• Hard Drive Device
• Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
• CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM