Unique computer id

[Shari]

>Well, AFAIK what you're getting is two different pieces of information. In
>Test One and Test Three, you're getting the MAC Address from the installed
>network interface card (NIC), and in Test Two, you're getting the serial
>number of the hard disk.
>
>One thing to keep in mind with getting MAC Addresses - a person may have
>more than one, especially if they have both a standard Ethernet NIC as well
>as a card for wireless network connections (like I do). So when I do
>IPCONFIG /all, I get *two* line items that say "Physical Address".
>
>And since it is more likely that cards will be removed/replaced than hard
>drives, I'd stick with getting the hard disk serial number (with all the
>appropriate caveats, of course).
>
>
>Ken Ray
>Sons of Thunder Software

Ken,

I actually ran into that problem on a wireless network.  One fellow 
apparently puts his card in and takes it out regularly, presumably 
when he travels.

Originally the goal was to find a unique id that I could get from any 
system, Mac or PC.  And the MAC address seemed to be the one. 
Apparently not.  That's why I put the Windows serial number as a 
backup.  I'd rather get a serial number than a MAC address, but it 
seemed to only work on Windows.

With Mac OSX, from everything I could find, one had to go into the 
Profiler Program, which is more hassle, slows the whole process down, 
etc.  If anyone posted a shell call, I would have tried it.  But I 
have a vague memory that I was unable to get the info on my system 
without opening Profiler.  (I have 10.2.8)  And if it failed for me, 
it would surely fail for others.

I'm not aware of any way on Mac Classic to get the serial number 
unless one uses an XCMD.

I could swear I read somewhere recently that getting the serial 
number itself is getting harder and harder.  I don't recall the why. 
But it failed logic.  I was doing an internet search for something 
when I ran across an article about it.

Shari
-- 
Mac and Windows shareware games
http://www.gypsyware.com