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[stuka]

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Edited August 21, 2009 by stuka

[GEOSoft]

1. Volume serial

2. CMD returns a formatted Hex value whereas AutoIt returns the decimal value.

3. It changes after formatting but I'm not sure how unique it is.

[GEOSoft]

@jackit Here is a small test for you.

$aDrives = DriveGetDrive("Fixed")
For $i = 1 To Ubound($aDrives)-1
   $iSer = DriveGetSerial($aDrives[$i])
   $hVal = Hex($iSer)
   $hVal = StringLeft($hVal, 4) & "-" & StringRight($hVal, 4)
   MsgBox(0, "Result", "The serial of Drive " & StringUpper($aDrives[$i]) & " is" & _
   @CRLF & @CRLF & $iSer & "  decimal" & @CRLF & @CRLF & $hVal & "  hex")
Next

[GEOSoft]

I had a rather strange return myself with Drive D: (ATA) and Drive E: (SATA) returning the same hex value (7FFF-FFFF) and I'm not sure why. I'm not too concerned about finding out why though. The Decimal values were different. That was just to show why DriveGetSerial() and CMD differed.

[PsaltyDS]

I hate to ask the same thing when a few threads regarding the same thing has been asked but yeah, here goes...

1. Is the value returned by the DriveGetSerial function unique? Does it show the actual Drive ID or does it return the Volume Serial Number? It also returns 2 different serials on 2 different partitions.

2. If it is indeed the Volume Serial Number, why do I get '12345678' but CMD says '7G1D-B168'?

3. Does the serial number change after the HDD is reformated? Even if it does, is it unique on each computer, irregardless if it is from the same brand and model?

I hope someone can help me clarify this, thank you!

The command line (DIR) reports volume serial number, which is for the partition, not the physical disk.

The problem is that "actual Drive" is a fuzzy term. The OS doesn't know, for instance, if it's running in a VM and looking at a virtual drive, or a logical disk in a hardware RAID set, or SAN LUN, etc.

If the driver for a given hard disk provides the interface to get the serial number, you might be able to query it with WMI or a DLL call, but there are many layers of abstraction between terms like "disk", "volume", "drive", etc. It can be frustrating to drill down to what you really want.

I have seen posts related to getting SMART data, which should access disk stuff at a low level.

What do you really need it for? Are you just trying to assemble a GUID for the machine?

[GEOSoft]

You can actually get the physical drive serial number (set by manufacturer) with WMI and if I recall it is in Win32_PhysicalMedia.

[PsaltyDS]

Yup, it's showed in Microsoft's site but do you have an example on how to apply it?

You can run the sample VBS provided by Scriptomatic for Win32_PhysicalMedia, but you may be disappointed. On my current PC with one SATA drive and two LUNs on a FibreChannel HBA, I get null for the SATA drive serial number, and the same global serial number of the SAN disk array for both LUNs (which are actually RAID sets, of course).

Microsoft claims that FSO drives have a .SerialNumber property that is "Serial number assigned to the drive by the manufacturer." But that is clearly bogus:

Global $oCOMError = ObjEvent("AutoIt.Error", "_COMError")

Global $sMsg

Global $objFSO = ObjCreate("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Global $colDrives = $objFSO.Drives
For $objDrive In $colDrives
    $sMsg = "FSO Drive:" & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Available space: " & $objDrive.AvailableSpace & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Drive letter: " & $objDrive.DriveLetter & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Drive type: " & $objDrive.DriveType & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "File system: " & $objDrive.FileSystem & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Is ready: " & $objDrive.IsReady & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Path: " & $objDrive.Path & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Root folder: " & $objDrive.RootFolder & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Serial number: " & $objDrive.SerialNumber & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Share name: " & $objDrive.ShareName & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Total size: " & $objDrive.TotalSize & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Volume name: " & $objDrive.VolumeName & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "DriveGetSerial = " & DriveGetSerial($objDrive.DriveLetter & ":") & @CRLF
    MsgBox(64, "Results", $sMsg)
Next

Func _COMError()
    $sMsg &= "<COM Error>" & @CRLF
EndFunc

I get a negative integer back for some drives and different SNs for two partitions on the same drive.

Edit: Updated demo to include the value returned by DriveGetSerial(). It matches the $objDrive.SerialNumber in most cases, but gives a long integer string instead of a negative integer for the drives that get that from the FSO reference.

Edited April 3, 2009 by PsaltyDS

[GEOSoft]

This works for me but YMMV

$colItems = ""
$strComputer = "localhost"
$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:\\" & $strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
$colItems = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT SerialNumber FROM Win32_PhysicalMedia")

If IsObj($colItems) then
   For $objItem In $colItems
      MsgBox(0, "Serial", StringStripWS($objItem.SerialNumber, 3))
   Next
EndIf

[trancexx]

You can run the sample VBS provided by Scriptomatic for Win32_PhysicalMedia, but you may be disappointed. On my current PC with one SATA drive and two LUNs on a FibreChannel HBA, I get null for the SATA drive serial number, and the same global serial number of the SAN disk array for both LUNs (which are actually RAID sets, of course).

Microsoft claims that FSO drives have a .SerialNumber property that is "Serial number assigned to the drive by the manufacturer." But that is clearly bogus:

Global $oCOMError = ObjEvent("AutoIt.Error", "_COMError")

Global $sMsg

Global $objFSO = ObjCreate("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Global $colDrives = $objFSO.Drives
For $objDrive In $colDrives
    $sMsg = "FSO Drive:" & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Available space: " & $objDrive.AvailableSpace & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Drive letter: " & $objDrive.DriveLetter & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Drive type: " & $objDrive.DriveType & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "File system: " & $objDrive.FileSystem & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Is ready: " & $objDrive.IsReady & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Path: " & $objDrive.Path & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Root folder: " & $objDrive.RootFolder & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Serial number: " & $objDrive.SerialNumber & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Share name: " & $objDrive.ShareName & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Total size: " & $objDrive.TotalSize & @CRLF
    $sMsg &= "Volume name: " & $objDrive.VolumeName & @CRLF
    MsgBox(64, "Results", $sMsg)
Next

Func _COMError()
    $sMsg &= "<COM Error>" & @CRLF
EndFunc

I get a negative integer back for some drives and different SNs for two partitions on the same drive.

I think that's ok. I will (try) to show you what's causing negative values. Will update this post in a minute or two with some code.

edit:

Reference

Thing is that VolumeSerialNumber for NTFS is in form of LONGLONG. To have backward compability serial numbers for NTFS are read as long and the rest of the full value is just ignored (in case of your example filled with 0xFFFFFFFF).

You can test it with this code:

expandcollapse popup

Global  $sDriveLettern = "C"

Global $hComIn = FileOpen("\\.\" & $sDriveLetter & ":", 16)
Global $bRaw = FileRead($hComIn, 84); 84 bytes is enough

ConsoleWrite(_HexEncode($bRaw) & @CRLF)

FileClose($hComIn)

Global $tRaw = DllStructCreate("byte [" & BinaryLen($bRaw) & "]")
DllStructSetData($tRaw, 1, $bRaw)

Local $tBootSectorSections = DllStructCreate("align 1;byte Jump[3];" & _
        "char SystemName[8];" & _
        "ushort BytesPerSector;" & _
        "ubyte SectorsPerCluster;" & _
        "ushort ReservedSectors;" & _
        "ubyte[3];" & _
        "ushort;" & _
        "ubyte MediaDescriptor;" & _
        "ushort;" & _
        "ushort SectorsPerTrack;" & _
        "ushort NumberOfHeads;" & _
        "dword HiddenSectors;" & _
        "dword;" & _
        "dword;" & _
        "int64 TotalSectors;" & _
        "int64 LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFT;" & _
        "int64 LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFTMirr;" & _
        "dword ClustersPerFileRecordSegment;" & _
        "dword ClustersPerIndexBlock;" & _
        "int64 NTFSVolumeSerialNumber;" & _
        "dword Checksum", _
        DllStructGetPtr($tRaw))


ConsoleWrite("Jump:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "Jump") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("SystemName:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "SystemName") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("BytesPerSector:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "BytesPerSector") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("SectorsPerCluster:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "SectorsPerCluster") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("ReservedSectors:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "ReservedSectors") & @CRLF)
;ConsoleWrite("6:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, 6) & @CRLF)
;ConsoleWrite("7:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, 7) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MediaDescriptor:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "MediaDescriptor") & @CRLF)
;ConsoleWrite("9:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, 9) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("SectorsPerTrack:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "SectorsPerTrack") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("NumberOfHeads:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "NumberOfHeads") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("HiddenSectors:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "HiddenSectors") & @CRLF)
;ConsoleWrite("13:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, 13) & @CRLF)
;ConsoleWrite("14:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, 14) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("TotalSectors:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "TotalSectors") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFT:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFT") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFTMirr:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFTMirr") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("ClustersPerFileRecordSegment:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "ClustersPerFileRecordSegment") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("ClustersPerIndexBlock:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "ClustersPerIndexBlock") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("VolumeSerialNumber:  " & Ptr(DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "NTFSVolumeSerialNumber")) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("NTFSVolumeSerialNumber:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "NTFSVolumeSerialNumber") & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("Checksum:  " & DllStructGetData($tBootSectorSections, "Checksum") & @CRLF)



Func _HexEncode($bInput)

    Local $tInput = DllStructCreate("byte[" & BinaryLen($bInput) & "]")

    DllStructSetData($tInput, 1, $bInput)

    Local $a_iCall = DllCall("crypt32.dll", "int", "CryptBinaryToString", _
            "ptr", DllStructGetPtr($tInput), _
            "dword", DllStructGetSize($tInput), _
            "dword", 11, _
            "ptr", 0, _
            "dword*", 0)

    If @error Or Not $a_iCall[0] Then
        Return SetError(1, 0, "")
    EndIf

    Local $iSize = $a_iCall[5]
    Local $tOut = DllStructCreate("char[" & $iSize & "]")

    $a_iCall = DllCall("crypt32.dll", "int", "CryptBinaryToString", _
            "ptr", DllStructGetPtr($tInput), _
            "dword", DllStructGetSize($tInput), _
            "dword", 11, _
            "ptr", DllStructGetPtr($tOut), _
            "dword*", $iSize)

    If @error Or Not $a_iCall[0] Then
        Return SetError(2, 0, "")
    EndIf

    Return SetError(0, 0, DllStructGetData($tOut, 1))

EndFunc  ;==>_HexEncode

With your code I get this:

FSO Drive:
Available space: 6498537472
Drive letter: C
Drive type: 2
File system: NTFS
Is ready: -1
Path: C:
Root folder: 
Serial number: -793799782; 0xFFFFFFFFD0AF939A <- this!!!
Share name: 0
Total size: 32160808960
Volume name: Windows XP

And with one in this post:

Jump:  0xEB5290
SystemName:  NTFS   
BytesPerSector:  512
SectorsPerCluster:  8
ReservedSectors:  0
MediaDescriptor:  248
SectorsPerTrack:  63
NumberOfHeads:  255
HiddenSectors:  63
TotalSectors:  62814086
LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFT:  786432
LogicalClusterNumberforthefileMFTMirr:  2621603
ClustersPerFileRecordSegment:  246
ClustersPerIndexBlock:  1
VolumeSerialNumber:  0xD0AF939A
NTFSVolumeSerialNumber:  2941043803637650330
Checksum:  0

Just to verify:

$sDriveLetter = "C"

$aCall = DllCall("kernel32.dll", "int", "GetVolumeInformation", _
        "str", $sDriveLetter & ":\", _
        "str", "", _
        "dword", 256, _
        "ptr*", 0, _
        "dword*", 0, _
        "dword*", 0, _
        "str", "", _
        "dword", 256)

ConsoleWrite("RootPathName: " & $aCall[1] & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("VolumeName: " & $aCall[2] & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("VolumeSerialNumber: " & $aCall[4] & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MaximumComponentLength: " & $aCall[5] & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("FileSystemFlags: " & $aCall[6] & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("FileSystemName: " & $aCall[7] & @CRLF)

Edited April 3, 2009 by trancexx

[PsaltyDS]

This works for me but YMMV

$colItems = ""
$strComputer = "localhost"
$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:\\" & $strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
$colItems = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT SerialNumber FROM Win32_PhysicalMedia")

If IsObj($colItems) then
   For $objItem In $colItems
      MsgBox(0, "Serial", StringStripWS($objItem.SerialNumber, 3))
   Next
EndIf

My mileage did vary: I got the null string for my SATA drive.

The FSO and DriveGetSerial() both return a long number, which is suspicious, because the serial numbers on the actual drive labels are strings with letters and dashes, etc. So I think that is really Volume serial.

[GEOSoft]

For The DLL call the answer to the what is being returned is right in front of you

DllCall("kernel32.dll", "int", "GetVolumeInformation",

[PsaltyDS]

For The DLL call the answer to the what is being returned is right in front of you

DllCall("kernel32.dll", "int", "GetVolumeInformation",

And the Microsoft text says of that OEM ID field:

...the 8-byte OEM ID, a string of characters that identifies the name and version number of the operating system that formatted the volume.

So that is NOT the hardware serial number of the physical disk. I would assume that if the driver exposes the physical drive's serial number, firmware rev, etc., that you could read it just as easily off a disk with no disk signature or only an EXT3 (Linux) partition on it. Because the it only needs to talk to the drive electronics, not anything written to the disk surface.

[trancexx]

I've gathered a few HDD serials in the university computer lab and it seems the ones I used had the same volume serial numbers! They were Dell computer with probably the same hardware and configuration. So I'm guessing computer with the same setup will usually give the same HDD volume serial number and not a unique one?

Volume serial number is by definition a random serial number created when formatting a disk (partition).

What tool Dell uses to format discs is up to them. Why that tool is not randomizing serial numbers is up to them too.

I guess the author of it didn't find that needed, maybe because he/she was told it's gonna be only one partition to deal with.

[KaFu]

Volume serial number is by definition a random serial number created when formatting a disk (partition).

If that's true and the serials on different computers are the same... I would guess the computers were set-up with a Clone tool ...

[KaFu]

If you're looking for a unique ID I remember a discussion about that ... (search, search)... here it is

#131508

Contains several good starting points, maybe a combination of some of the queries will do. Though I would not use the ones utilizing WMI, as it is not installed on all machines by default. Look more into the provided kernel calls etc...

Edited April 9, 2009 by KaFu

[Tec]

Test the vbs script:

strComputer = "."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_DiskDrive where InterfaceType = 'USB'")

For Each objItem in colItems
    Wscript.Echo "PNPID: " & objItem.PNPDeviceID
Next
WSCript.Quit

Output:

USBSTOR\DISK&VEN_SONY&PROD_STORAGE_MEDIA&REV_0100\2A08112518943&0

The 2A08112518943&0 is a unique ID. Test it on 3 Computer on more the one Slots. Everytime it is 2A08112518943&0

Edit:

Works with Fix and Remove able drives. Not with CD Rom or Network drives

strComputer = "."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_DiskDrive")

For Each objItem in colItems
    Wscript.Echo "PNPID: " & objItem.PNPDeviceID
Next
WSCript.Quit

Edited April 9, 2009 by Tec

[Tec]

$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=Impersonate}!\\.\root\cimv2")
If Not IsObj($objWMIService) Then Exit 

$colDevice = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * from Win32_DiskDrive")
For $objItem in $colDevice
    $var = StringTrimLeft($objItem.PNPDeviceID,StringInstr($objItem.PNPDeviceID,"\",0,-1))
    MsgBox( 64, "PNPDEviceID", $var)
Next

Try this ;-)

Edited April 14, 2009 by Tec

[Keymaker]

This works for me but YMMV

$colItems = ""
$strComputer = "localhost"
$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:\\" & $strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
$colItems = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT SerialNumber FROM Win32_PhysicalMedia")

If IsObj($colItems) then
   For $objItem In $colItems
      MsgBox(0, "Serial", StringStripWS($objItem.SerialNumber, 3))
   Next
EndIf

This worked for me (at least for my lone fixed drive), but I need a way to get the drive serial by specifying which drive, preferably by letter (i.e., C:\, F:\). Does anyone know how to do this?

The code returned empty or null for my USB drives though.