I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer (like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

See if this helps you:

Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetVolumeInformation _
Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "GetVolumeInformationA" _
(ByVal lpRootPathName As String, _
ByVal lpVolumeNameBuffer As String, _
ByVal nVolumeNameSize As Long, _
lpVolumeSerialNumber As Long, _
lpMaximumComponentLength As Long, _
lpFileSystemFlags As Long, _
ByVal lpFileSystemNameBuffer As String, _
ByVal nFileSystemNameSize As Long) As Long

Private Function getDriveVolumeSerial(Optional strDriveLetter As String =
"") As String

'will get the drive serial number
'default is the drive that the application is on
'otherwise can do for example: getDriveSerialNumber("D")
'-------------------------------------------------------

Dim strDrivePath As String
Dim Serial As Long
Dim VName As String
Dim FSName As String

If Len(strDriveLetter) = 0 Then
strDrivePath = Left$(Application.Path, 1) & ":\"
Else
strDrivePath = strDriveLetter & ":\"
End If

'Create buffers
VName = String$(255, Chr$(0))
FSName = String$(255, Chr$(0))

'Get the volume information
GetVolumeInformation strDrivePath, VName, 255, Serial, 0, 0, FSName, 255

getDriveVolumeSerial = Trim(Str$(Abs(Serial)))

End Function


Sub test()

MsgBox getDriveVolumeSerial(), , "HD serial number"

End Sub


RBS


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer (like
a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

Thanks RB. This should do the trick.


"RB Smissaert" wrote in message
...
See if this helps you:

Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetVolumeInformation _
Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "GetVolumeInformationA" _
(ByVal lpRootPathName As String, _
ByVal lpVolumeNameBuffer As String, _
ByVal nVolumeNameSize As Long, _
lpVolumeSerialNumber As Long, _
lpMaximumComponentLength As Long, _
lpFileSystemFlags As Long, _
ByVal lpFileSystemNameBuffer As String, _
ByVal nFileSystemNameSize As Long) As Long

Private Function getDriveVolumeSerial(Optional strDriveLetter As String =
"") As String

'will get the drive serial number
'default is the drive that the application is on
'otherwise can do for example: getDriveSerialNumber("D")
'-------------------------------------------------------

Dim strDrivePath As String
Dim Serial As Long
Dim VName As String
Dim FSName As String

If Len(strDriveLetter) = 0 Then
strDrivePath = Left$(Application.Path, 1) & ":\"
Else
strDrivePath = strDriveLetter & ":\"
End If

'Create buffers
VName = String$(255, Chr$(0))
FSName = String$(255, Chr$(0))

'Get the volume information
GetVolumeInformation strDrivePath, VName, 255, Serial, 0, 0, FSName,
255

getDriveVolumeSerial = Trim(Str$(Abs(Serial)))

End Function


Sub test()

MsgBox getDriveVolumeSerial(), , "HD serial number"

End Sub


RBS


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer
(like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

maybe computer name?

environ("computername")

--


Gary


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer (like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

Or even this combination...

Environ("username") & "/" & Environ("computername")

which uses your suggestion for the computer's name and the non-API method of
getting the user's name.

Rick


"Gary Keramidas" <GKeramidasATmsn.com wrote in message
...
maybe computer name?

environ("computername")

--


Gary


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer
(like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

Yes, maybe better than using the HD serial number as I think that can be the
same when the
disk image has been cloned.

RBS


"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in
message ...
Or even this combination...

Environ("username") & "/" & Environ("computername")

which uses your suggestion for the computer's name and the non-API method
of getting the user's name.

Rick


"Gary Keramidas" <GKeramidasATmsn.com wrote in message
...
maybe computer name?

environ("computername")

--


Gary


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer
(like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

I think it will also change with a reformat (should the user decide to
'clean things up' one day).

Rick


"RB Smissaert" wrote in message
...
Yes, maybe better than using the HD serial number as I think that can be
the same when the
disk image has been cloned.

RBS


"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in
message ...
Or even this combination...

Environ("username") & "/" & Environ("computername")

which uses your suggestion for the computer's name and the non-API method
of getting the user's name.

Rick


"Gary Keramidas" <GKeramidasATmsn.com wrote in message
...
maybe computer name?

environ("computername")

--


Gary


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer
(like a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

Really - we are talking serial number here ?
That's a pain, I just assumed the HD's serial number was somehow embedded
for all eternity, like my car's chassis number. Or is it more akin to my
car's registration number?

I think it will also change with a reformat (should the user decide to
'clean things up' one day).

Yes, maybe better than using the HD serial number as I think that can be
the same when the
disk image has been cloned.

Regards,
Peter T

Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

RBS


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
I need to reset some database variables when my program goes on to a
different computer. Is there a way to detect this change. I get can get
the
user name via API GetUserName, but many user names are the same (Joe,
Pete...). I can't find an API that will identify a specific computer (like
a
serial number).
Any ideas?

thanks

Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

Insert a Module and copy/paste this code into it...

Public Type HardDriveInfo
DriveLetter As String
VolumeName As String
SerialNumber As String
FormatType As String
TotalSize As String
FreeSize As String
End Type

Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
If StrComp(DRV.Name, Replace(DriveLetter, ":", "") & ":", vbTextCompare)
= 0 Then
With HardDrive
.DriveLetter = DRV.Name
.VolumeName = DRV.VolumeName
.SerialNumber = DRV.VolumeSerialNumber
.FormatType = DRV.FileSystem
.TotalSize = Format(DRV.Size / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
.FreeSize = Format(DRV.FreeSpace / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
End With
Exit For
End If
Next
End Sub

Now, in your own code, you can declare a variable of type HardDriveInfo,
call the GetDriveInfo subroutine (passing in the drive letter you are
interested in) and retrieve various information about that drive. Here is an
example...

Sub Test()
Dim HD As HardDriveInfo
GetDriveInfo "c", HD
Debug.Print "Drive Letter: " & HD.DriveLetter
Debug.Print "Volume Name: " & HD.VolumeName
Debug.Print "Serial Number: " & HD.SerialNumber
Debug.Print "Drive Format: " & HD.FormatType
Debug.Print "Total Size: " & HD.TotalSize
Debug.Print "Free Size: " & HD.FreeSize
End Sub

Rick

"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in message

Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

<snip
Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
<snip

Hi Rick,
Another interesting solution. Unfortunately it doesn't work on my W98SE,
though it does in Vista.

Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
err.432
File or classname not found during automation operation

Other things I've tried with "winmgmts" also fail in w9x, including yet
another approach sent to me by RBS off-line. Slightly different error -
Object doesn't support this property or method

By contrast, Randy Birch's code (the RBS link up top) works in W98 but fails
in Vista, I suspect 'cos of this-

Private Function SmartOpen(drvNumber As IDE_DRIVE_NUMBER) As Long

'Open SMART to allow DeviceIoControl
'communications and return SMART handle

If IsWinNT4Plus() Then

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\PhysicalDrive" & CStr(drvNumber), _
GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, _
FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
ByVal 0&, _
OPEN_EXISTING, _
0&, _
0&)

Else

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\SMARTVSD", _
0&, 0&, _
ByVal 0&, _
CREATE_NEW, _
0&, _
0&)
End If

End Function

I hope Randy Birch does not mind my posting this function (see link above),
though I've seen virtually the same function in a number of sources. Anyway,
in my Vista SmartOpen returns -1 which in effect is non-valid. FWIW
IsWinNT4Plus returns true but SmartOpen returns -1 with both true/false
variations.

Unless I can get GetObject("winmgmts: etc working for all W98 users, or the
SmartOpen function working for all Vista users, seems I would need radically
different solutions to cater for different OS. Unless of course you have any
more ideas :-)

Regards,
Peter T

It's been awhile, but I thought WMI was automatically installed with Win98SE
and up; but, in checking, I see I was wrong, it was WinXP and above. Those
with Win95, Win98 and Win98SE can install WMI individually in order to get
the functionality provided by it. Here is the download site...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

If you want to read more about WMI, you can do so at this link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows...nstrumentation

Rick


"Peter T" <peter_t@discussions wrote in message
...
"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in message

Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

<snip
Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As
HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
<snip

Hi Rick,
Another interesting solution. Unfortunately it doesn't work on my W98SE,
though it does in Vista.

Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
err.432
File or classname not found during automation operation

Other things I've tried with "winmgmts" also fail in w9x, including yet
another approach sent to me by RBS off-line. Slightly different error -
Object doesn't support this property or method

By contrast, Randy Birch's code (the RBS link up top) works in W98 but
fails in Vista, I suspect 'cos of this-

Private Function SmartOpen(drvNumber As IDE_DRIVE_NUMBER) As Long

'Open SMART to allow DeviceIoControl
'communications and return SMART handle

If IsWinNT4Plus() Then

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\PhysicalDrive" & CStr(drvNumber), _
GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, _
FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
ByVal 0&, _
OPEN_EXISTING, _
0&, _
0&)

Else

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\SMARTVSD", _
0&, 0&, _
ByVal 0&, _
CREATE_NEW, _
0&, _
0&)
End If

End Function

I hope Randy Birch does not mind my posting this function (see link
above), though I've seen virtually the same function in a number of
sources. Anyway, in my Vista SmartOpen returns -1 which in effect is
non-valid. FWIW IsWinNT4Plus returns true but SmartOpen returns -1 with
both true/false variations.

Unless I can get GetObject("winmgmts: etc working for all W98 users, or
the SmartOpen function working for all Vista users, seems I would need
radically different solutions to cater for different OS. Unless of course
you have any more ideas :-)

Regards,
Peter T

Thanks for the info and the link. Installing WMI individually is not an
option for my purposes.

I see I was wrong, it was WinXP and above
Looks like it is shipped with ME and later.

It'd sure be handy though to find a method that returns something akin to a
physical HD serial number that'll work in W98 to Vista.

Regards,
Peter T

"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in
message ...
It's been awhile, but I thought WMI was automatically installed with
Win98SE and up; but, in checking, I see I was wrong, it was WinXP and
above. Those with Win95, Win98 and Win98SE can install WMI individually in
order to get the functionality provided by it. Here is the download
site...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

If you want to read more about WMI, you can do so at this link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows...nstrumentation

Rick


"Peter T" <peter_t@discussions wrote in message
...
"Rick Rothstein (MVP - VB)" wrote in message

Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

<snip
Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As
HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
<snip

Hi Rick,
Another interesting solution. Unfortunately it doesn't work on my W98SE,
though it does in Vista.

Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
err.432
File or classname not found during automation operation

Other things I've tried with "winmgmts" also fail in w9x, including yet
another approach sent to me by RBS off-line. Slightly different error -
Object doesn't support this property or method

By contrast, Randy Birch's code (the RBS link up top) works in W98 but
fails in Vista, I suspect 'cos of this-

Private Function SmartOpen(drvNumber As IDE_DRIVE_NUMBER) As Long

'Open SMART to allow DeviceIoControl
'communications and return SMART handle

If IsWinNT4Plus() Then

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\PhysicalDrive" & CStr(drvNumber), _
GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, _
FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
ByVal 0&, _
OPEN_EXISTING, _
0&, _
0&)

Else

SmartOpen = CreateFile("\\.\SMARTVSD", _
0&, 0&, _
ByVal 0&, _
CREATE_NEW, _
0&, _
0&)
End If

End Function

I hope Randy Birch does not mind my posting this function (see link
above), though I've seen virtually the same function in a number of
sources. Anyway, in my Vista SmartOpen returns -1 which in effect is
non-valid. FWIW IsWinNT4Plus returns true but SmartOpen returns -1 with
both true/false variations.

Unless I can get GetObject("winmgmts: etc working for all W98 users, or
the SmartOpen function working for all Vista users, seems I would need
radically different solutions to cater for different OS. Unless of course
you have any more ideas :-)

Regards,
Peter T

On 5 Feb, 11:07, "Rick Rothstein \(MVP - VB\)"
wrote:
Actually, getting the real Drive serial number is simple:
http://vbnet.mvps.org/index.html?code/disk/smartide.htm

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

Insert a Module and copy/paste this code into it...

Public Type HardDriveInfo
DriveLetter As String
VolumeName As String
SerialNumber As String
FormatType As String
TotalSize As String
FreeSize As String
End Type

Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
If StrComp(DRV.Name, Replace(DriveLetter, ":", "") & ":", vbTextCompare)
= 0 Then
With HardDrive
.DriveLetter = DRV.Name
.VolumeName = DRV.VolumeName
.SerialNumber = DRV.VolumeSerialNumber
.FormatType = DRV.FileSystem
.TotalSize = Format(DRV.Size / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
.FreeSize = Format(DRV.FreeSpace / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
End With
Exit For
End If
Next
End Sub

Now, in your own code, you can declare a variable of type HardDriveInfo,
call the GetDriveInfo subroutine (passing in the drive letter you are
interested in) and retrieve various information about that drive. Here is an
example...

Sub Test()
Dim HD As HardDriveInfo
GetDriveInfo "c", HD
Debug.Print "Drive Letter: " & HD.DriveLetter
Debug.Print "Volume Name: " & HD.VolumeName
Debug.Print "Serial Number: " & HD.SerialNumber
Debug.Print "Drive Format: " & HD.FormatType
Debug.Print "Total Size: " & HD.TotalSize
Debug.Print "Free Size: " & HD.FreeSize
End Sub

Rick

That is a neat way to do this and thanks for posting.
Not sure if it is better, but I would code it slightly different:

Function GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String) As HardDriveInfo

Dim WMI
Dim SYS
Dim DRV

Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", _
"WQL", _
48)

For Each DRV In SYS
If StrComp(DRV.Name, Replace(DriveLetter, ":", "") & ":",
vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
With GetDriveInfo
.DriveLetter = DRV.Name
.VolumeName = DRV.VolumeName
.SerialNumber = DRV.VolumeSerialNumber
.FormatType = DRV.FileSystem
.TotalSize = Format(DRV.Size / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
.FreeSize = Format(DRV.FreeSpace / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
End With
Exit For
End If
Next

End Function

Sub Test()
Dim HD As HardDriveInfo
HD = GetDriveInfo("S")
Debug.Print "Drive Letter: " & HD.DriveLetter
Debug.Print "Volume Name: " & HD.VolumeName
Debug.Print "Serial Number: " & HD.SerialNumber
Debug.Print "Drive Format: " & HD.FormatType
Debug.Print "Total Size: " & HD.TotalSize
Debug.Print "Free Size: " & HD.FreeSize
End Sub


RBS

Here is another way based on a posting by Larry Serflaten over in the
compiled VB newsgroups...

Insert a Module and copy/paste this code into it...

Public Type HardDriveInfo
DriveLetter As String
VolumeName As String
SerialNumber As String
FormatType As String
TotalSize As String
FreeSize As String
End Type

Public Sub GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String, HardDrive As
HardDriveInfo)
Dim WMI, SYS, DRV
Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", 48)
For Each DRV In SYS
If StrComp(DRV.Name, Replace(DriveLetter, ":", "") & ":",
vbTextCompare)
= 0 Then
With HardDrive
.DriveLetter = DRV.Name
.VolumeName = DRV.VolumeName
.SerialNumber = DRV.VolumeSerialNumber
.FormatType = DRV.FileSystem
.TotalSize = Format(DRV.Size / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
.FreeSize = Format(DRV.FreeSpace / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
End With
Exit For
End If
Next
End Sub

Now, in your own code, you can declare a variable of type HardDriveInfo,
call the GetDriveInfo subroutine (passing in the drive letter you are
interested in) and retrieve various information about that drive. Here is
an
example...

Sub Test()
Dim HD As HardDriveInfo
GetDriveInfo "c", HD
Debug.Print "Drive Letter: " & HD.DriveLetter
Debug.Print "Volume Name: " & HD.VolumeName
Debug.Print "Serial Number: " & HD.SerialNumber
Debug.Print "Drive Format: " & HD.FormatType
Debug.Print "Total Size: " & HD.TotalSize
Debug.Print "Free Size: " & HD.FreeSize
End Sub

Rick

That is a neat way to do this and thanks for posting.
Not sure if it is better, but I would code it slightly different:

Function GetDriveInfo(DriveLetter As String) As HardDriveInfo

Dim WMI
Dim SYS
Dim DRV

Set WMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set SYS = WMI.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", _
"WQL", _
48)

For Each DRV In SYS
If StrComp(DRV.Name, Replace(DriveLetter, ":", "") & ":",
vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
With GetDriveInfo
.DriveLetter = DRV.Name
.VolumeName = DRV.VolumeName
.SerialNumber = DRV.VolumeSerialNumber
.FormatType = DRV.FileSystem
.TotalSize = Format(DRV.Size / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
.FreeSize = Format(DRV.FreeSpace / (10 ^ 6), "#,##0 MB")
End With
Exit For
End If
Next

End Function

Sub Test()
Dim HD As HardDriveInfo
HD = GetDriveInfo("S")
Debug.Print "Drive Letter: " & HD.DriveLetter
Debug.Print "Volume Name: " & HD.VolumeName
Debug.Print "Serial Number: " & HD.SerialNumber
Debug.Print "Drive Format: " & HD.FormatType
Debug.Print "Total Size: " & HD.TotalSize
Debug.Print "Free Size: " & HD.FreeSize
End Sub

Nothing wrong with that approach, of course. I usually reserve function over
subroutine creation when I expect at some point to be able to use a return
value within an expression of some sort (like, for example, a chain set of
function calls). I don't foresee such a usage for this code; hence, the my
choice of the subroutine.

Rick