how to force windows to report a false hard disk serial number?

[JMI]

If you assume "windows" is reporting the serial of your HD, then it has specific code to do that. You could "intercept" that code on the fly and change the serial result that Windows "stores/reports "in some specific location. If it's just a Windows API you could set a breakpoint on the read access. The priciple would be the same for private code accessing the HD for that reason. You have to identify its "reading" code and force it to "report" the serial you want it to use.

You are potentially facing at least two possible options. One might be that the read of the HD serial is simply a "goodboy/bad cracker" comparison and then jmp to "goodboy." Another, more difficult, is that the code read the original HD serial and used it as part of some form of encryption code to modify part of the code itself. This would be much more difficult to get around, unless you happen to have the HD code for the "original" harddisk.

Regards,