A reward program directed to registering computer devices and their
consumable parts via a computer network generates a unique key code value
for each computer device. The key code is generated by a remote server in
the computer network and may include appending a sequential counter to
the serial number of the device being registered. The key code is then
encrypted using a standard hash algorithm. The encrypted key code is
saved in a device information database together with other device
information and consumable part information related to the computer
device. The encrypted key code is also returned to the computer device
and saved in the device memory. The device information database is
updated with the usage of consumable part information for each registered
computer device. Customers also register with the reward program and are
assigned to one or more registered computer devices.