Re: Microsoft and hard drive identification...

[Sunder <sunder@brainlink.com>]

Probably means the machine's SID (Secure ID.) Whenever NT installs (not sure
what Windbreak 9x) does, it generates a big huge random SID.  Of course if
you replicate hard drives to get machines setup, they'll all have the same
serial number...

They might use other numbers as well, but it's unknown what they are.  Do
BIOS's have serial numbers that we don't know about? (They are flash EEPROM
now a days, so it's not impossible.)  Some IDE hd's do have them too...

James Moyer wrote:
> 
> There is an interesting paragraph on the privacy page on the Microsoft web
> site (http://register.microsoft.com/regwiz/include/privacy.htm)
> 
> It reads:
> 
> "In creating a new profile or updating an existing one, we obtain your
> hardware identification number from the registry on your computer's hard
> drive. "
> 
> I am not exactly sure what they mean by "registry"--whether it be the
> Win9x/NT registry, or something completely different.

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