How to pick system information in VB

[hYph3n]

hi guys!

first of all, i want to say sorry, i didn't find any appropriate forum to post this topic so i am posting it here.

i want to get the system information, like i want to get the HardDisk unique number in VB, how can i?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Which flavor of VB?

I would suggest you re-post this question (or ask a mod to move it), to the forum of that version of VB, either classic or .NET. You will get many more eyes seeing the question.

[jmcilhinney]

In VB.NET you would use the System.Management. There are other similar ways, but here's a simple one if all you want is the HDD serial number:

Dim physicalMedia As New ManagementClass("Win32_PhysicalMedia")
 
For Each physicalMedium As ManagementObject In physicalMedia.GetInstances()
    If physicalMedium("SerialNumber") <> Nothing Then
        MessageBox.Show(CStr(physicalMedium("SerialNumber")))
    End If
Next physicalMedium

Note that there is a Win32_DiskDrive class as well but it contains information about the drive, while the Win32_PhysicalMedia class contains information about the disk(s). There is also a Win32_DiskDrivePhysicalMedia class that relates the two.

You can also use the mgmtclassgen.exe utility included with VS.NET to generate a .NET class that corresponds to WMI class. To do that you would open the VS.NET command prompt, navigate to your source folder and enter "mgmtclassgen Win32_PhysicalMedia /l vb". That would create a PhysicalMedia.vb file that you can then add to your project. Your code would then look like this:

Dim physicalMedia As New ManagementClass("Win32_PhysicalMedia")
Dim physicalMedium As PhysicalMedia
 
For Each mo As ManagementObject In physicalMedia.GetInstances()
    physicalMedium = New PhysicalMedia(mo)
 
    If physicalMedium.SerialNumber <> Nothing Then
        MessageBox.Show(physicalMedium.SerialNumber))
    End If
Next mo

Having said all that, if you're using VB6 then I haven't got a clue.

[jaybousquet]

Not sure where to put this --- I'll start here.

Hoping to obtain HD serial number in a web application.. I'm using the following code in global.asax.vb :

Dim searcher As New Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_PhysicalMedia")
Dim wmi_HD As Management.ManagementObject

For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
Response.Write(wmi_HD("SerialNumber"))
Next

searcher = New System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_DiskDrive")
For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
Response.Write(wmi_HD("Model"))
Next

The first loop works fine and iterates through 2 management objects (I have 2 harddrives) - but the second loop is never entered. Apparently no objects were returned by the "PhysicalMedia" query. My question is "Why?" Every answer that occurs to me would also seem to necessitate the failure of the first loop as well. Any ideas?

[jmcilhinney]

Not sure where to put this --- I'll start here.

Hoping to obtain HD serial number in a web application.. I'm using the following code in global.asax.vb :

Dim searcher As New Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_PhysicalMedia")
Dim wmi_HD As Management.ManagementObject

For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
Response.Write(wmi_HD("SerialNumber"))
Next

searcher = New System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_DiskDrive")
For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
Response.Write(wmi_HD("Model"))
Next

The first loop works fine and iterates through 2 management objects (I have 2 harddrives) - but the second loop is never entered. Apparently no objects were returned by the "PhysicalMedia" query. My question is "Why?" Every answer that occurs to me would also seem to necessitate the failure of the first loop as well. Any ideas?

I tried that code with a minor variation to get it to display in a WinForms app while debugging and it worked fine:

Dim searcher As New Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_PhysicalMedia")
        Dim wmi_HD As Management.ManagementObject
 
        For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
            Debug.WriteLine(String.Format("Physical Media Serial Number: {0}", wmi_HD("SerialNumber")))
        Next
 
        searcher = New System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("select * from Win32_DiskDrive")
        For Each wmi_HD In searcher.Get()
            Debug.WriteLine(String.Format("Disk Drive Model: {0}", wmi_HD("Model")))
        Next

If you actually want to relate DiskDrive objects to PhysicalMedia objects, I strongly suggest that you use the Win32_DiskDrivePhysicalMedia class. I did it myself and it's not particularly difficult, although it took a little bit of wiggling. I used the MgmtClassGen.exe tool to create .NET classes, as I suggested earlier, and my code ended up looking like this:

Dim driveMedia As New ManagementClass("Win32_DiskDrivePhysicalMedia")
            Dim driveMedium As DiskDrivePhysicalMedia
            Dim drive As DiskDrive
            Dim medium As PhysicalMedia
            Dim interfaceType As String
            Dim serialNumber As String
            Dim driveIndex As Integer = 0
 
            'Retrieve the hard disk serial numbers.
            For Each mo As ManagementObject In driveMedia.GetInstances()
                driveMedium = New DiskDrivePhysicalMedia(mo)
                drive = New DiskDrive(driveMedium.Dependent)
                medium = New PhysicalMedia(driveMedium.Antecedent)
 
                interfaceType = drive.InterfaceType
                serialNumber = medium.SerialNumber
 
                drive.Dispose()
                medium.Dispose()
                mo.Dispose()
 
                If (interfaceType = "IDE" OrElse interfaceType = "SCSI") AndAlso _
                   serialNumber <> Nothing Then
                    requestData.AppendFormat("D{0}|{1}|", driveIndex, serialNumber)
                    driveIndex += 1
                End If
            Next mo
 
            driveMedia.Dispose()

[alkatran]

We use the computer's serial number for our licensing keys (people call in for keys).

We use this code:

Public 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, _
  ByVal lpFileSystemFlags As Long, ByVal lpFileSystemNameBuffer As String, _
  ByVal nFileSystemNameSize As Long) As Long
 
Public Function getSerialNumber() As Long
Dim N As Long
    'TRY {
        On Error GoTo catch
        GetVolumeInformation Left(App.Path, 3), String(255, Chr$(0)), 255, N, 0, 0, String(255, Chr$(0)), 255
        getSerialNumber = Abs(N)
    '} CATCH {
catch:  If Err.Number Then
            msgbox "Error reading system serial number."
        End If
    '} END TRY
End Function

Ironically, I found a bug in the code while copying it here. Thank god the function always worked (old error code would have ended up in an infinite loop or crashed the program, take your pick!!).

[litlewiki]

alright is there a similar code to find out the serial number for a cd/dvd when inserted