I'm using a Kingston KC2500 SSD with a controller that supports firmware reprogramming through an MP Tool. After changing the drive's serial number, hardware-info software correctly shows the new value. However, even after a clean Windows installation, WMIC still reports the original serial number. Could Windows be retrieving it from another device identifier or cached location, such as NVRAM, rather than the SSD's updated identify data? I'm trying to understand this because an older piece of software appears to bind its license to the first storage serial number reported through WMI, and its developer is no longer available to reissue the license.
2 Answers
Windows may be receiving the value from a different layer than the SSD’s standard identify data. Check what the storage stack exposes with PowerShell, for example: `Get-CimInstance Win32_DiskDrive | Select-Object Model,SerialNumber,PNPDeviceID`. If that still shows the old value, it suggests the serial is being supplied through another firmware field, the controller, or the device’s plug-and-play identity rather than being a Windows cache.
Changing the value shown by one hardware utility does not necessarily change every serial or identifier exposed by the controller. SSDs can contain multiple identity fields, and Windows may use the controller’s reported plug-and-play data instead of the field modified by the firmware tool. Also, serial-number changes made with unofficial tools may not be persistent or consistently supported after resets or firmware operations.
It’s also worth confirming the software actually binds to the disk serial. Hardware-bound licensing can use several values, and relying on a WMI storage serial would be unusual. Without documentation or support from the developer, replacing the drive may not be enough to reproduce the original license state.
Thanks. That command also reports the original serial number. I couldn’t find that value elsewhere in the firmware, so I’m trying to determine exactly which identifier Windows uses for `Win32_DiskDrive.SerialNumber`.