On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 20:35:58 -0500, GS wrote:

It happens that CellShocked formulated :
On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 20:03:28 -0500, Ron Rosenfeld wrote:

On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:34:51 -0500, GS wrote:

I recommend using WMI to obtain the BIOS serial number because all the
values recommended by you and Isabelle (thus far) can be
edited/changed. The only way to change the BSN is to replace the
motherboard. In the case of a clone machine returning an empty BSN, I
substitute with a hash value of that empty string via SHA256. When this
is combined with make & model it serves well enough for my purposes.<g

Oh, and my machine is built by myself; your routine returns
"To Be Filled By O.E.M." (Which is what is in all the Chassis
Information slots except for Type: Desktop)


Is there not a way to acquire the CPU ID (in Intel cases where it is
not turned off in the BIOS)?

For all intents and purposes, the BIOS serial number IS the cpu's ID.
The only way to change it is to swap out the motherboard, which creates
a new cpu with a new ID.<g


This claim is not true.

Intel CPUs have a unique identifier number which can be accessed though
their API. The motherboard serial number is an entirely different
animal, and BOTH numbers can be changed by way of changing either the CPU
itself, or the BIOS chip itself. some motherboards have a separate,
fixed chip which the real BIOS chip 'reads' to assign certain variables
in its operation. So, on those MOBOs, you will not change that ID
easily.