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Old December 29th 17, 02:37 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Default For Windows experts only: How to find the unique Opera device_id associated with my setup?

On Thu, 28 Dec 2017 19:35:14 -0500, Bob_S wrote:

From my point of view after doing some brief research on behalf of your
inquiry, it is not totally a Windows issue but instead an Opera issue and
you should be looking for an Opera or even perhaps a Chrome knowledgeable
individual since it's based on Chrome.


I appreciate your advice as I'm sure this has never been asked before.
Certainly it has never been answered. So the chance of us solving the
problem is nearly zero - but there's a chance nonetheless.

The device_id, AFAIK, is generated by SurfEasy, not by Chrome.
The sequential subscriber-id, AFAIK, is generated by Opera, not by Chrome.
Hence, IMHO, it's not a Chrome issue.

It's a Windows issue to capture it.
It's also an Opera issue - but we'll never get the answer from the Opera
newsgroup as there's virtually zero traffic on that ng.

It's associated with Windows because
you are using the Opera browser within the windows operating environment and
the storage location for Opera's cookies, files and extensions is not
totally dictated by Windows.


If I was on Linux, I'd be asking the Linux users what Linux tools will
capture the device_id & subscriber-id as it is passed back and forth
through the networking protocols.

As it is, I'm on Windows - so that's why I ask Windows experts how to
capture a datum that is passed from the browser to the network & back.

If you read the reference site I included in my first post, it does offer
some possible clues with the one that may be worth considering and
researching further and that is Opera may be using a "Super Cookie" (ref:
https://www.techopedia.com/definitio...0/super-cookie)


The "super cookie" is a red herring because it still has to be stored
somewhere on Windows and it has to be passed back and forth by Windows.

If they do use a super cookie, I seriously doubt it will be easy to find but
with enough persistence and research - you may get lucky. Then you need to
know what you're looking at.


Exactly. I have to know the size of the datum, and when it's passed back
and forth. I tried Wireshark and Fiddler4 but both provide too much
extraneous data to catch the sequential subscriber-id and the user-specific
device_id.

But even looking at standard cookies may be what you want. If you do happen
to find a cookie with an abbreviation like MUID (machine unique id) embedded
in it as Bing does - that may be what you are looking for. I doubt Opera
stores them in the same location as IE and from what I've read in some old
posts - you could try looking in %appdata%\Opera\Opera\cookies4.dat and
there is supposedly a direct toolbar link in Opera to the "Storage" section
where cookies are stored.

This is an old reference but contains Opera specific data format
explanations:
http://www.opera.com/docs/operafiles/#cookies

It has a lot of info but scroll down to "Cookie file formats" near the
bottom.

Again, have no idea of what you are trying to do but good luck.


I appreciate the advice as I realize nobody has ever asked this before and
nobody knows the answer and Opera isn't telling and neither is SurfEasy.

So I never once thought it would be easy.
But maybe ... just maybe ... we'll get lucky and catch it somehow in a
network sniffer... that's what I'm hoping.

The Opera site generates a sequential subscriber-id which is then passed to
SurfEasy who generates the unique device_id (or so I understand) so both of
those have to be passed back and forth and stored somewhere.
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