Title: Get a disk volume serial number in C#

This example uses the GetVolumeInformation API function so get a disk volume's serial number. It starts by using the System.Rumtime.InteropServices namespace and by declaring the API function.

using System.Runtime.InteropServices; ... [DllImport("kernel32.dll")] private static extern long GetVolumeInformation( string PathName, StringBuilder VolumeNameBuffer, UInt32 VolumeNameSize, ref UInt32 VolumeSerialNumber, ref UInt32 MaximumComponentLength, ref UInt32 FileSystemFlags, StringBuilder FileSystemNameBuffer, UInt32 FileSystemNameSize);

When you enter a disk volume's name (as in "C:\") and click the program's Get Information button, the following code executes.

private void btnGetInformation_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { string drive_letter = txtDisk.Text; drive_letter = drive_letter.Substring(0, 1) + ":\\"; uint serial_number = 0; uint max_component_length = 0; StringBuilder sb_volume_name = new StringBuilder(256); UInt32 file_system_flags = new UInt32(); StringBuilder sb_file_system_name = new StringBuilder(256); if (GetVolumeInformation(drive_letter, sb_volume_name, (UInt32)sb_volume_name.Capacity, ref serial_number, ref max_component_length, ref file_system_flags, sb_file_system_name, (UInt32)sb_file_system_name.Capacity) == 0) { MessageBox.Show( "Error getting volume information.", "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation); } else { txtVolumeName.Text = sb_volume_name.ToString(); txtSerialNumber.Text = serial_number.ToString(); txtMaxComponentLength.Text = max_component_length.ToString(); txtFileSystem.Text = sb_file_system_name.ToString(); txtFlags.Text = "&&H" + file_system_flags.ToString("x"); } }

The code initializes some variables and calls the GetVolumeInformation API function. If the function returns successfully, then its parameters return the disk's:

• Volume name
• Serial number
• Maximum component length
• File system type
• Flags

Download the example to experiment with it and to see additional details.