Definition: A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. A serial number for a piece of software is not the same as a product key.
You've probably seen serial numbers before. Nearly every piece of the computer has a serial number including your monitor, keyboard, mouse and sometimes even your entire computer system as a whole. Internal components such as hard drives, optical drives and motherboards also contain serial numbers.
Serial numbers are used my manufacturers to track individual items, usually for quality control. For example, if a piece of hardware is recalled for some reason, customers are usually made aware of which particular devices need service by being provided a range of serial numbers.
Also Known As: S/N
Examples: "Thousands of batteries were recalled by my laptop's manufacturer last week. I knew that mine was not effected because my battery's serial number did not fall in the range provided by the manufacturer."
