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From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: DOS 4.0 Volume Serial Numbers
Message-ID: <1991Mar5.160652.15570@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 91 13:32:46 GMT
References: <8105@chorus.fr> <12818@hubcap.clemson.edu> <1991Mar5.033219.369@nuchat.sccsi.com>
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In article <8105@chorus.fr> mir@opera.chorus.fr (Adam Mirowski) writes:
>In article <1991Mar5.033219.369@nuchat.sccsi.com>, paul@nuchat.sccsi.com (Paul Hutmacher) writes:
>%% 
>%% And while we're at it, what the hell are [Volume Serial Numbers] for?
>I see 2 purposes:
>- copy protection (upon installation an application stores the disk SN)
>- diskette identification (although the Disk Change signal could be enough).

They're also ideal for cataloging: Anyone who downloads as much stuff as
I do from anonymous ftp sites (and pack-rats it away ;-) needs to be
able to keep track of the hundreds of floppies. It's a simple matter to
write a program which reads the directory and serial number from the
disk and stores them in a master database. As long as each disk is
labelled with its serial number, finding those sources to Xtank that you
downloaded in the summer of 1989 is a snap!