Do you guys have an idea for a good value to use to get a uniquie identifier for a PC for licensing purposes?

I know I could use MAC address, but then I have to go to the trouble to enumerate all the MAC addresses and allow the user to decide which to use and store that. Is there another ID one can pull off a given PC that is accurate 99%+ of the time? If 1% of the time they have to call, that is OK. I am going to write a web service that handles the activation and key to PC management.

In our VFP applications we get a value based on the serial number of the hard drive and it has worked for 10 years in some applications, they just have to call when they get a new drive or PC.

Any thoughts on a "better" way in .NET short of MAC?

Keith Chisarik

The SN on a hard drive is something that we used in the past, but it was a headache and depending on drivers, drive types, etc. this wasn't always consistent.  But even once we worked past that, hard drives were always "crashing" and we would have to issue new keys which most of these were people not telling the truth in the end.  So the MAC address is where we turned and it has worked well and if they replace a hard drive or even rebuild the entire machine, as long as they have that NIC ini the machine, they can re-activate and we know it is the same machine.

You don't have to let them pick the NIC and you can pick it from the installed NICs on the machine.  But it is really the most simple approach that we have ever taken and to date, the most simple to keep up to date and prevent overall theft.