The Volume Serial Number (also known as VSN) is a unique serial number that is assigned to an optical disk (CD or DVD) or a hard drive after formatting. The Volume Serial Number was added by Microsoft and IBM so that the operating system could recognize if an optical disk or a drive is changed on the system. By that time the only way to determine this, was the volume label (Volume Name) that the user defined to each storage disk. But that way, there was a problem if a user gave the same (Volume) name to two (or more) disks. To bypass this problem, Microsoft and IBM decided to assign a new unique number in hexadecimal form (called 'Volume Serial Number' or 'Volume ID' or 'VSN') when a drive (optical disk or hard drive) was formatted.
change hard disk volume serial number
In simple words, the Volume Serial Number indicates the exact time Date, Month, Year & Time (Hour, Minute & Second) of format operation. The VSN is changed anytime you format the disk, so if you re-install Windows and you format the system disk, Windows will ask again for activation.
Taking advantage of VSN, some software vendors use the Volume Serial Number to avoid pirate copying of their products. This means that software from these vendors can not run if the Volume Serial Number is different from the VSN of the product's original optical disk that was shipped or of the hard drive that the software was first installed. Also this technique was previously used by multiplayer game vendors to ban the gamers that tried to cheat. Nowadays, this method is useless because the game or software vendors now use the hardcoded serial number (HDD Manufacture's S/N that is embedded into the firmware) to identify (ban) cheaters or they ban the CD key.
In windows 10 (Oct 2018) I get "The parameter is incorrect" when trying to change the VolumeID of the C: drive using the SysInternals volumeid.exe. Also the Hard Disk Serial Number Changer fails with the error "Unable to write to this disk in drive". Any ideas how I can change the volumeID?Just for info, I have tried this with Windows10 VM running under Fusion on Mac OS, ands also with Win10 installed on a BOOTCAMP partition on Mac also. No joy with either. Windows is installed under EFI setup, so GPT volume. Not sure if this is the cause?
Program on disk C.CMD Run administrator.cd c:\Volumeid.exe C: 1234-5678Restart.C: 1234-5678 -Disk and new numberReading the number.C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe As a file .batRunning on a changed drive.Write in.vol
Oh this is incredibly kind guide I have ever found today. Thank you so much.But unfortunately, this doesn't work for the number of the Sandisk I have.. I think it is the product issue.. because the micro SD which is from Samsung works fine with both ways(volumeID and Hard Disk Serial Number Changer).
@PatrickVolumeID doesn't have any prompt of it's own in the way that tools like diskpart does, all the input to the command must be given along with the tool name on the command line, as the usage: help indicates, so for example you could type:volumeid e: a1b2-c3d4nb. generally please ensure volume ids are indeed unique, otherwise you can expect issues.
It would be better to point out that the volume serial number is a general identifyer for all volumes, not only for a disk and that what you are talking about here, is only the volume serial number of the first volume (partition) of a disk.
Thank you for listing the recent addition to diskpart. I use the tool as part of my job and had never played with that feature. Unfortunately I think that is a different ID than what people here are talking about. If you type 'vol c:' at a command prompt you will see a Serial number that is unrelated to the uniqueid. One of the giveaways is that each partition has an ID, but uniqueid only deals with a disk (that may contain several partitions). I believe the number being discussed here lives in the VBR.
Note that "list disk" actually lists the physical disks, and not the partitions that you may have assigned drive letters. This means that if you have 2 physical disks, with 3 partitions on each, so that you have drives C:, D:, E:, F:, G: and H:, "list disk" will only show "Disk 0" and "Disk 1".5) Type "select disk x" (without the quotes) where x is the number of the disk from your "list disk" display.6) When you type (say) "select disk 1", DiskPart will respond by telling you "Disk 1 is now the selected disk".7) Type "uniqueid disk". DiskPart will respond with the disk's signature, a series of hexadecimal digits8) Type "uniqueid disk ID=[NEW SIGNATURE]" where "[NEW SIGNATURE]" stands for the new identifier you want for the disk9) Quit DiskPart by typing "exit".10) Type "exit" again to quit the Administrator Command Prompt.
hello sir,My name is saurabh gaur and i face the problem when i changed my serial number i got a message that is volumeid is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.Please tell me what can i do for change my serial number.please send me the solution ASAP!Thanking you.
This free to download application is an easy to carry and light program that confers users with the ability to change their machine's C drive serial numbering system to a customized set of values, in an efficient and user friendly manner. The title "Hard Disk Serial Number Changer" is a completely self-explanatory moniker, as basically the application permits users to alter their hard disks' serial number.
The program does not require specialized technical savvy knowledge, and it is remarkably easy to operate. It runs on all versions of Windows OS, from the classic Windows 98 and XP to the more recent, higher spec 8.1 and Windows 10. The file is 636 kb in size, so it will not use up an enormous amount of space. The OS on your machine performs an assignment of the key to your machine's hard disk during installation. Usually, changes can only be made to the number by the formatting of the drive. But Hard Disk Serial Number Changer looks after this process easily and efficiently. This is a portable application, so installation is not a prerequisite. It means that users can place executable files in any location on the disk and then all that is required is simply click it to run.
The program's interface is fashioned from an everyday ordinary window with a "straight shooting" layout, where users can choose a specific lettered drive from a selection of drop-down menus and alter the serial numbers into any sequence required. The application of these new changes is effected by the simple click of a button, but in order to peruse the full suite of benefits, users are required to restart their machine. Test users have noted that the application has little or no effect on your system's resources and in general it has applied the fresh settings in an error free manner. Testers have found no recurring issues in their processes of scrutiny, notably the tool was not found not to crash or hang. Although it has not been subjected to an in depth update since the late 2000s Windows 7 era, the program is fully compatible on newer OS like Windows 8.1 and 10.
To sum up, this program is exceptionally portable, transferable and user friendly. It is proven empirically through thousands of hours of testing across all formats to be virus free and safe for your machine's hard drive. It will save business users hundreds of labor hours subcontracted to an ICT specialist, as the user can now change their PC or laptop's hard drive serial number without reformatting the device. The sheer convenience that this offers to users makes the program a cost effective (i.e free) option that is flexible enough to keep pace with frequent Windows updates and is highly recommended to download as soon as possible!
A hard disk will be assigned with a new disk serial number whenever you format a hard drive. This serial number is used by software programs installed on the computer to identify the disk driver and prevent multiple activations of the same software on other computers.
However, the serial number is created during the format. That means you have to reformat the hard drive to change its serial number. And formatting will delete everything on the disk. Then, you can use "Hard Disk Serial Number Changer", a program that allows you to change the hard disk serial number without reformatting it.
This software is more compatible than Hard Disk Serial Number, and it supports 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista. More importantly, it can change FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT volume serial number without reformatting the hard drive again.
PB DownForce was tested and worked on Windows XP and Windows 7 32-bit although it still was quite random to which machines worked and which showed no change or produced an error. 64-bit Windows is not supported in any free hard drive spoofing tools we came across. The spoofed serial will return to normal after a reboot.
In normal usage the serial number should not change, but it is possible for a user to change it if they are trying to bypass your anti-piracy technique. See here for a list of tools that do this, aimed at people trying to bypass anti-cheat systems in games. So you have to consider whether the hard disk serial number is "good enough" to deter most people from pirating your software.
A MAC (Media Access Control) address only relates to network interfaces, nothing to do with hardid disks. The hard drive serial number is an arbitrary string set by the hard disk manufacturer - it can be anything and only has meaning to the manufacturer, it could even be blank if the manufacturer does not implement it. 2ff7e9595c
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