From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Sat, 12/20/2025 8:15 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:   
   > On 2025-12-20 03:54, Paul wrote:   
   >> On Fri, 12/19/2025 6:35 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:   
   >>> On 2025/12/19 21:47:49, Hank Rogers wrote:   
   >>>> Graham J wrote on 12/19/2025 2:45 PM:   
   >>>>> Steve wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   >> The advantage of the Macrium clone, is it generates new unique GUID for   
   >> the blkid, then it fixes the boot menu to point to the new value,   
   >> and what this does, is make the HDD and SSD "independent" of one another.   
   >> The SSD boots whether the HDD is plugged in or not, when done that way.   
   >   
   > This might backfire.   
   >   
   > Widows 7, and probably W8, looked at the disk identifier to know Windows was   
   legal and not pirated over to another computer.   
   >   
   >   
   > Telcontar:~ # fdisk -l /dev/sda   
   > Disk /dev/sda: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors   
   > Disk model: ST2000DM001-1CH1   
   > Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes   
   > Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes   
   > I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes   
   > Disklabel type: gpt   
   > Disk identifier: 9020FF2C-... <====================   
   > ...   
   >   
   > The disk identifier is not the blkid, but I'd guess it will also look at it.   
      
   The license validation is a multi-factor thing. While the disk identifier   
   may factor into the determination, the motherboard serial number (NIC MAC   
   address) factors a lot higher. One of the reasons motherboards have   
   captive (onboard) Ethernet and Firewire, is they have MAC addresses that   
   help identify the motherboard.   
      
   The CPU is not supposed to have a serial number. Maybe only one generation   
   of Pentium III had a serial number. The temptation to put a serial number   
   in the CPU, must be an overpowering one... :-)   
      
   Not a lot of identifiers on a computer, positively identify an attempt   
   to duplicate a licensed setup. If the hard drive dies, the user has the   
   right to use a new hard drive (with a different serial number). That   
   factor alone should not tip over the license. It usually takes   
   two or three offenses (an obvious offense, and some suggestive   
   but not conclusive evidence collected from the sum total of hardware).   
      
   Much of this is supposition collected during the WinXP era.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)