Scumbag stole my laptop

LovelyHurling

My laptop was stolen in Connolly Friday evening the 2nd of Dec (yesterday), but the thing is it was password protected i.e. you cant log on without a password. Does this mean the laptop is potentially useless to the guy or can he get away with it? It was Windows XP nothing complicated.

Im so pissed off I dont even know if its worth reporting to the guards, might just go round to the local pawn shops for this sort of thing and see if they have it, cos I had some pretty important docs and notes on there.

aidan_walsh

Was it BIOS password protected? If you mean that just the Windows Account was passworded, then it'll be pretty easy for him to get around it if he knows what he's doing.

/me waits for a "locked laptop" thread to appear

LovelyHurling

No twas just a windows password. Sounds like it would have been fairly sellable in that case.

How can I make my computer ultra thief proof in future, within limits ie without building a barbed wire compound around it which would defeat the purpose somewhat!

I'll begin by not leaving my bags alone in future. doh.

Placebo

okay
If its a windows password, he can get a new windows cd and basically reinstall windows.
IF you had a bios password that would make the hard drive useless, which means he could still get a new one [not easy to get in shops though but widley available nonetheless]

either way, he would have to spend more time if you had BIOS password, but this is all considering hes educated and by his antics, i think not, so hes probably like doh, selling it on some street for 100 euro.

BAD BUZZ though, sorry to hear.

Shiny

Placebo wrote:

IF you had a bios password that would make the hard drive useless

If there is a bios password then the entire laptop is
usless he clears the bios. (via jumper on the motherboard)

god dam knackers

commited

How was it nicked dude? Might help those of us who travel with our laptops to avoid being in the same situation

pdogs

BIOS passwords on many laptops cant be reset by clearing the CMOS. The whole chip has to be replaced. This is most commonly found on newer than older laptops and more common still on company laptops.

MarkR

Set your computer to boot from hard drive first.
Set a password in the bios.
Set a windows password.
Register your computer with technical support.
That way if it is stolen later you have all the details to hand, and it can be flagged at support if it turns up for support.
You may also want to use one of those security pens to mark it as yours.
Oh, and put it in the boot.

melekalikimaka

i was in some bar the same night and the bloke beside me got his nabbed too...worrying to say the least,maybe get those chains like you can get for your wallets...

MarkR

melekalikimaka wrote:

i was in some bar the same night and the bloke beside me got his nabbed too...worrying to say the least,maybe get those chains like you can get for your wallets...

I can just imagine. A strong pull by a thief and there you are, pantless, walletless, and without your computer.

thelad

There are business notebooks available with integrated fingerprint readers but I suppose all are 'stealable'

atilladehun

what size was it, just out of curiosity? I tell my freinds to get a small laptop if they can possibly. A 12" in a properly designed bag does not look like a laptop at all, more of a 'man bag' -to steal a phrase. people are always surprized to see me pull a laptop out of my bag. (I was going to say 12" but i refrained............) Plus they're so much lighter that you don't feel like putting them down half as much. You can prevent another laptop being stolen instead of your next one just being harder to crack.

besty

my friend had her laptop nicked out of her friend's boot of her car up in ucd. apparently it happens quite regularly because the car park is beside the quinn school of business and nearly every student and lecturer has a laptop!

Hope you get it back mate, I know the chances are slim but stranger things have happened. Good luck

the_syco

Report it to the Gardai. You never know, they may have gotten it somehow.

JasperKat

Hi Guys,

I too had one stolen & then I saw this website advertised in computer magazines, *snip snip*, they're software helps to locate your stolen laptop.... it's worth the money cos stats prove 95% of computers connect to the internet within 30 days of theft.

Jasper

Basq

JasperKat wrote:

Hi Guys,

I too had one stolen & then I saw this website advertised in computer magazines, www.stealthshield.ie, they're software helps to locate your stolen laptop.... it's worth the money cos stats prove 95% of computers connect to the internet within 30 days of theft.

Jasper

3 posts with 2 of them promoting the same site - pull the other one! :rolleyes:

cormie

JasperKat wrote:

Hi Guys,

I too had one stolen & then I saw this website advertised in computer magazines, www.stealthshield.ie, they're software helps to locate your stolen laptop.... it's worth the money cos stats prove 95% of computers connect to the internet within 30 days of theft.

Jasper

Bit expensive really, if it was something like €50 I'd say every laptop in the country would be covered, where as with them prices, I'd say only laptops used for important business are. I'd say there wouldbe more profit lowering prices.

jtkpenguin

Cormie, you obviously don't value the data on your laptop very highly then or you wouldn't be saying that ! Or, maybe you don't own the lappy & therefore don't give a damn about losing it?

Either way, I don't care 'cos I've not got a lappy but was thinking about buying one in the jan. sales & if I do I'd like to think that there was something I could put on it to maybe get it back if it was stolen. Just my 2c worth.:D

cormie

You've just backed up what I said there. I never once mentioned whether or not it was worth it for me. If I was in charge of the business, I would seriously consider lowering prices so it is a very considerable option for the majority of laptop owners and not just to go after important business laptops. After all, it only seems like a simple tracking process which requires minimal effort. I could be wrong and correct me if I am, but it's only software with a tracking application to a main database of numbers and codes and what not.

Since you can never tell the spec of a laptop in a bag, it could be 2K's worth or it could be a pc world €499 model for example, if it's stolen, it's stolen. Paying approx €300 to cover a €499 laptop in case it's stolen wouldn't really be worth it (not taking documents into consideration).

I just think the company would make far more profit by lowering their prices and being in the price range of the majority of laptop owners. Say a rough estimate of 70% of all laptop buyers would opt for it rather than I'd say only 5% at its current price. 70 x €50 = €3,500 compared to 5 x €300, €1,500.

jtkpenguin

I don't know exactly how it works either, but if my lappy was stolen I'd just like to feel slightly better knowing that with their software on it maybe, just maybe there'd be a higher possibility of getting it back....

Where do you get the 300 from? it says 95 on their site?

Actually, it's the data on the lappy that's of value, not the lappy it's self, so I'd happily pay if it meant getting it back !!!!

cormie

I'm looking at the 3 year plan including vat! The actual data may not be as important to some people as the laptop itself. As I said, open it up to as many customers as possible, price wise and they will make more profit. Considering 3 year extended warranties are an average price of €120, when laptops are far more likely to have drinks spilled on them and other mishaps rather than being stolen, I think the prices for peace of mind of it being stolen are too high. It sounds like a great service and if it has a 90% success rate then I'm sure, if the price was right, it could become a very successful business, contracts with the likes of dell/pc world etc. Word of mouth is a big seller, if somebody knows of this service and hears of a friend who buys a laptop, they are far more likely to mention it if they think it's in their budget, you can't imagine a student saying to their friend that they should consider covering it against theft for €300 where as if it was about €50 they are far more likely to mention it.

Also, since this is software, is it not rendered useless if the operating system is reinstalled/formatted?

jtkpenguin

I take your point about the cost of 3yrs, but 95 per year isn't too bad & i'd be happy to pay if it meant i'd get my data back.

cormie wrote:

Also, since this is software, is it not rendered useless if the operating system is reinstalled/formatted?

From their website:
Q. Can the Computrace Agent be removed?
A. On most PCs the Agent cannot be erased off the hard drive by deleting files because it is not visible in file directories. The Agent can survive a hard drive re-format, F-disk command and hard drive re-partitioning. On a Mac it is difficult for a standard user to accidentally or deliberately delete the Agent.
An authorized user with the correct password and installation software can remove the Agent.

Would be interested to hear if anyone has tried anything like this or indeed heard of Absolute, they look like a big co?

WizZard

jtkpenguin wrote:

Q. Can the Computrace Agent be removed?
A. On most PCs the Agent cannot be erased off the hard drive by deleting files because it is not visible in file directories. The Agent can survive a hard drive re-format, F-disk command and hard drive re-partitioning. On a Mac it is difficult for a standard user to accidentally or deliberately delete the Agent.
An authorized user with the correct password and installation software can remove the Agent.

I'd be very intererested to see the software aswell. Can't be removed by an fdisk/reformat?

Is it this crap of writing a signature to every byte on the hard drive? But how would that be detected without the agent?

Capt'n Midnight

cormie wrote:

Also, since this is software, is it not rendered useless if the operating system is reinstalled/formatted?

Don't forget that Microsoft OEM software is bound to the HW so technically it's been stolen too, and you would need to insure it as well. especially if have Office Pro or similar preinstalled.

cormie

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Don't forget that Microsoft OEM software is bound to the HW so technically it's been stolen too, and you would need to insure it as well. especially if have Office Pro or similar preinstalled.

HW meaning hardware? I'm not too sure what you mean by that. But if there are techies who know, is it definitely not going to be able to be wiped off with a format? I'm sure they wouldn't state it couldn't be if it could or they would be in deep trouble with lawsuits and all that.

pdogs

Can't be removed by an fdisk/reformat?

That's the interesting point.

My guess is that it must be on an ATA HPA (Host Protected Area) or otherwise embedded on the HDD's non-data area or firmware in a manner similar to the way that many Laptops can be protected by an ATA password that can only be removed by replacing the HDD or the HDD's firmware.