The general idea to generate a Hardware ID (machine fingerprint) is collect data from the CPU, HDD, BIOS, NIC and another hardware components which have serial numbers and unique characteristics. you can use this ID to generate licenses based in this fingerprint which must be “unique” by machine.

for this simple sample i picked this set of WMI classes Win32_Processor (Get CPU info), Win32_BaseBoard (retrieve info about the motherboard), Win32_BIOS (Get BIOS Data) and Win32_OperatingSystem (Get Windows information). Of course you can choose other WMI classes, and combinations that you want.

Check the full source code of the hardware ID generator.

(Tested in Delphi 2007 and Delphi XE)

program WMIHardwareID;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
{$DEFINE Use_Jwscl} //necessary to obtain a hash of the data using md2, md4, md5 or sha1

uses
  {$IFDEF Use_Jwscl}
  JwsclTypes,
  JwsclCryptProvider,
  {$ENDIF}
  Classes,
  SysUtils,
  ActiveX,
  ComObj,
  Variants;

type
   TMotherBoardInfo   = (Mb_SerialNumber,Mb_Manufacturer,Mb_Product,Mb_Model);
   TMotherBoardInfoSet= set of TMotherBoardInfo;
   TProcessorInfo     = (Pr_Description,Pr_Manufacturer,Pr_Name,Pr_ProcessorId,Pr_UniqueId);
   TProcessorInfoSet  = set of TProcessorInfo;
   TBIOSInfo          = (Bs_BIOSVersion,Bs_BuildNumber,Bs_Description,Bs_Manufacturer,Bs_Name,Bs_SerialNumber,Bs_Version);
   TBIOSInfoSet       = set of TBIOSInfo;
   TOSInfo            = (Os_BuildNumber,Os_BuildType,Os_Manufacturer,Os_Name,Os_SerialNumber,Os_Version);
   TOSInfoSet         = set of TOSInfo;

const //properties names to get the data
   MotherBoardInfoArr: array[TMotherBoardInfo] of AnsiString =
                        ('SerialNumber','Manufacturer','Product','Model');

   OsInfoArr         : array[TOSInfo] of AnsiString =
                        ('BuildNumber','BuildType','Manufacturer','Name','SerialNumber','Version');

   BiosInfoArr       : array[TBIOSInfo] of AnsiString =
                        ('BIOSVersion','BuildNumber','Description','Manufacturer','Name','SerialNumber','Version');

   ProcessorInfoArr  : array[TProcessorInfo] of AnsiString =
                        ('Description','Manufacturer','Name','ProcessorId','UniqueId');

type
   THardwareId  = class
   private
    FOSInfo         : TOSInfoSet;
    FBIOSInfo       : TBIOSInfoSet;
    FProcessorInfo  : TProcessorInfoSet;
    FMotherBoardInfo: TMotherBoardInfoSet;
    FBuffer         : AnsiString;
    function GetHardwareIdHex: AnsiString;
  {$IFDEF Use_Jwscl}
    function GetHashString(Algorithm: TJwHashAlgorithm; Buffer : Pointer;Size:Integer) : AnsiString;
    function GetHardwareIdMd5: AnsiString;
    function GetHardwareIdMd2: AnsiString;
    function GetHardwareIdMd4: AnsiString;
    function GetHardwareIdSHA: AnsiString;
  {$ENDIF}
   public
     //Set the properties to  be used in the generation of the hardware id
    property  MotherBoardInfo : TMotherBoardInfoSet read FMotherBoardInfo write FMotherBoardInfo;
    property  ProcessorInfo : TProcessorInfoSet read FProcessorInfo write FProcessorInfo;
    property  BIOSInfo: TBIOSInfoSet read FBIOSInfo write FBIOSInfo;
    property  OSInfo  : TOSInfoSet read FOSInfo write FOSInfo;
    property  Buffer : AnsiString read FBuffer; //return the content of the data collected in the system
    property  HardwareIdHex : AnsiString read GetHardwareIdHex; //get a hexadecimal represntation of the data collected
  {$IFDEF Use_Jwscl}
    property  HardwareIdMd2  : AnsiString read GetHardwareIdMd2; //get a Md2 hash of the data collected
    property  HardwareIdMd4  : AnsiString read GetHardwareIdMd4; //get a Md4 hash of the data collected
    property  HardwareIdMd5  : AnsiString read GetHardwareIdMd5; //get a Md5 hash of the data collected
    property  HardwareIdSHA  : AnsiString read GetHardwareIdSHA; //get a SHA1 hash of the data collected
  {$ENDIF}
    procedure GenerateHardwareId; //calculate the hardware id
    constructor  Create(Generate:Boolean=True); overload;
    Destructor  Destroy; override;
   end;

function VarArrayToStr(const vArray: variant): AnsiString;

  function _VarToStr(const V: variant): AnsiString;
  var
  Vt: integer;
  begin
   Vt := VarType(V);
      case Vt of
        varSmallint,
        varInteger  : Result := AnsiString(IntToStr(integer(V)));
        varSingle,
        varDouble,
        varCurrency : Result := AnsiString(FloatToStr(Double(V)));
        varDate     : Result := AnsiString(VarToStr(V));
        varOleStr   : Result := AnsiString(WideString(V));
        varBoolean  : Result := AnsiString(VarToStr(V));
        varVariant  : Result := AnsiString(VarToStr(Variant(V)));
        varByte     : Result := AnsiChar(byte(V));
        varString   : Result := AnsiString(V);
        varArray    : Result := VarArrayToStr(Variant(V));
      end;
  end;

var
i : integer;
begin
    Result := '[';
    if (VarType(vArray) and VarArray)=0 then
       Result := _VarToStr(vArray)
    else
    for i := VarArrayLowBound(vArray, 1) to VarArrayHighBound(vArray, 1) do
     if i=VarArrayLowBound(vArray, 1)  then
      Result := Result+_VarToStr(vArray[i])
     else
      Result := Result+'|'+_VarToStr(vArray[i]);

    Result:=Result+']';
end;

function VarStrNull(const V:OleVariant):AnsiString; //avoid problems with null strings
begin
  Result:='';
  if not VarIsNull(V) then
  begin
    if VarIsArray(V) then
       Result:=VarArrayToStr(V)
    else
    Result:=AnsiString(VarToStr(V));
  end;
end;

{ THardwareId }

constructor THardwareId.Create(Generate:Boolean=True);
begin
   inherited Create;
   CoInitialize(nil);
   FBuffer          :='';
   //Set the propeties to be used in the hardware id generation
   FMotherBoardInfo :=[Mb_SerialNumber,Mb_Manufacturer,Mb_Product,Mb_Model];
   FOSInfo          :=[Os_BuildNumber,Os_BuildType,Os_Manufacturer,Os_Name,Os_SerialNumber,Os_Version];
   FBIOSInfo        :=[Bs_BIOSVersion,Bs_BuildNumber,Bs_Description,Bs_Manufacturer,Bs_Name,Bs_SerialNumber,Bs_Version];
   FProcessorInfo   :=[];//including the processor info is expensive [Pr_Description,Pr_Manufacturer,Pr_Name,Pr_ProcessorId,Pr_UniqueId];
   if Generate then
    GenerateHardwareId;
end;

destructor THardwareId.Destroy;
begin
  CoUninitialize;
  inherited;
end;

//Main function which collect the system data.
procedure THardwareId.GenerateHardwareId;
var
  objSWbemLocator : OLEVariant;
  objWMIService   : OLEVariant;
  objWbemObjectSet: OLEVariant;
  oWmiObject      : OLEVariant;
  oEnum           : IEnumvariant;
  iValue          : LongWord;
  SDummy          : AnsiString;
  Mb              : TMotherBoardInfo;
  Os              : TOSInfo;
  Bs              : TBIOSInfo;
  Pr              : TProcessorInfo;
begin;
  objSWbemLocator := CreateOleObject('WbemScripting.SWbemLocator');
  objWMIService   := objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer('localhost','root\cimv2', '','');

  if FMotherBoardInfo<>[] then //MotherBoard info
  begin
    objWbemObjectSet:= objWMIService.ExecQuery('SELECT * FROM Win32_BaseBoard','WQL',0);
    oEnum           := IUnknown(objWbemObjectSet._NewEnum) as IEnumVariant;
    while oEnum.Next(1, oWmiObject, iValue) = 0 do
    begin
      for Mb := Low(TMotherBoardInfo) to High(TMotherBoardInfo) do
       if Mb in FMotherBoardInfo then
       begin
          SDummy:=VarStrNull(oWmiObject.Properties_.Item(MotherBoardInfoArr[Mb]).Value);
          FBuffer:=FBuffer+SDummy;
       end;
       oWmiObject:=Unassigned;
    end;
  end;

  if FOSInfo<>[] then//Windows info
  begin
    objWbemObjectSet:= objWMIService.ExecQuery('SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem','WQL',0);
    oEnum           := IUnknown(objWbemObjectSet._NewEnum) as IEnumVariant;
    while oEnum.Next(1, oWmiObject, iValue) = 0 do
    begin
      for Os := Low(TOSInfo) to High(TOSInfo) do
       if Os in FOSInfo then
       begin
          SDummy:=VarStrNull(oWmiObject.Properties_.Item(OsInfoArr[Os]).Value);
          FBuffer:=FBuffer+SDummy;
       end;
       oWmiObject:=Unassigned;
    end;
  end;

  if FBIOSInfo<>[] then//BIOS info
  begin
    objWbemObjectSet:= objWMIService.ExecQuery('SELECT * FROM Win32_BIOS','WQL',0);
    oEnum           := IUnknown(objWbemObjectSet._NewEnum) as IEnumVariant;
    while oEnum.Next(1, oWmiObject, iValue) = 0 do
    begin
      for Bs := Low(TBIOSInfo) to High(TBIOSInfo) do
       if Bs in FBIOSInfo then
       begin
          SDummy:=VarStrNull(oWmiObject.Properties_.Item(BiosInfoArr[Bs]).Value);
          FBuffer:=FBuffer+SDummy;
       end;
       oWmiObject:=Unassigned;
    end;
  end;

  if FProcessorInfo<>[] then//CPU info
  begin
    objWbemObjectSet:= objWMIService.ExecQuery('SELECT * FROM Win32_Processor','WQL',0);
    oEnum           := IUnknown(objWbemObjectSet._NewEnum) as IEnumVariant;
    while oEnum.Next(1, oWmiObject, iValue) = 0 do
    begin
      for Pr := Low(TProcessorInfo) to High(TProcessorInfo) do
       if Pr in FProcessorInfo then
       begin
          SDummy:=VarStrNull(oWmiObject.Properties_.Item(ProcessorInfoArr[Pr]).Value);
          FBuffer:=FBuffer+SDummy;
       end;
       oWmiObject:=Unassigned;
    end;
  end;

end;

function THardwareId.GetHardwareIdHex: AnsiString;
begin
    SetLength(Result,Length(FBuffer)*2);
    BinToHex(PAnsiChar(FBuffer),PAnsiChar(Result),Length(FBuffer));
end;

{$IFDEF Use_Jwscl}
function THardwareId.GetHashString(Algorithm: TJwHashAlgorithm; Buffer : Pointer;Size:Integer) : AnsiString;
var
  Hash: TJwHash;
  HashSize: Cardinal;
  HashData: Pointer;
begin
  Hash := TJwHash.Create(Algorithm);
  try
    Hash.HashData(Buffer,Size);
    HashData := Hash.RetrieveHash(HashSize);
    try
        SetLength(Result,HashSize*2);
        BinToHex(PAnsiChar(HashData),PAnsiChar(Result),HashSize);
    finally
      TJwHash.FreeBuffer(HashData);
    end;
  finally
    Hash.Free;
  end;
end;

function THardwareId.GetHardwareIdMd2: AnsiString;
begin
   Result:=GetHashString(haMD2,@FBuffer[1],Length(FBuffer));
end;

function THardwareId.GetHardwareIdMd4: AnsiString;
begin
   Result:=GetHashString(haMD4,@FBuffer[1],Length(FBuffer));
end;

function THardwareId.GetHardwareIdMd5: AnsiString;
begin
   Result:=GetHashString(haMD5,@FBuffer[1],Length(FBuffer));
end;

function THardwareId.GetHardwareIdSHA: AnsiString;
begin
   Result:=GetHashString(haSHA,@FBuffer[1],Length(FBuffer));
end;

{$ENDIF}

//testing the THardwareId object
var
  HWID : THardwareId;
  dt   : TDateTime;
begin
 try
    HWID:=THardwareId.Create(False);
    try
       dt := Now;
       HWID.GenerateHardwareId;
       dt := now - dt;
       Writeln(Format('Hardware Id Generated in %s',[FormatDateTime('hh:mm:nn.zzz',dt)]));
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['Buffer ',HWID.Buffer]));
       Writeln('');
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['Hex  ',HWID.HardwareIdHex]));
      {$IFDEF Use_Jwscl}
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['Md2  ',HWID.HardwareIdMd2]));
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['Md4  ',HWID.HardwareIdMd4]));
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['Md5  ',HWID.HardwareIdMd5]));
       Writeln(Format('%s %s',['SHA1 ',HWID.HardwareIdSHA]));
      {$ENDIF}
      Readln;
    finally
     HWID.Free;
    end;
 except
    on E:Exception do
    begin
        Writeln(E.Classname, ':', E.Message);
        Readln;
    end;
  end;
end.