My husband and I run a computer business out of our home and this past Tuesday someone came into our home and stole not only my laptop but 2 of my customers as well. What really bothers me is that my laptop had all of my busineeses accounting information on it as well as all of my family pictures. We usally back all of our info up to our server but it just so happened that the week before our server got a bug and we had to reformat it. It didn't dawn on me to reback everything up immediatley (with the holiday chaos and everything). I just wanted to know if anyone knows of a way to track down a computer. My husband and I are also a WISP for our neighborhhod so we have tried to track it down by mac address but to no avail as yet. The theifs also took some jewerly. the worst of it is we have a small shop about a 100 feet behind our house and this happened while my husband was in the shop working. I think it was kids but have had no luck getting the word out in the neighborhhod.
2006-12-24 07:56:46 · 6 answers · asked by CiCI 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
I register everything at stuffback.com that way the serial numbers are easy to check by pawn stores and they can recover it as soon as a crook tries to pawn it. Another thing my friend did when his was stolen was have me to place a wanted ad in the local paper and at craigslist.com looking for something very similar. In his case it worked, he got it back and the police got the crooks.
2006-12-24 10:13:30 · answer #1 · answered by Kevin H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hindsite being what it is, installing an application such as Steganos Security Suite that includes an anti-theft feature would have been helpful. This technology works as follows:
After the AntiTheft feature has been enabled on a computer, that computer sends signals to the Steganos servers on a regular basis. During this process, the computer's IP address is recorded. If the computer is connected to the Internet again after the theft, it might be possible to determine its location: Using the IP address assigned by the Internet provider, the inquiring authorities might be able to identify the owner of the Internet connection used. Thus, it is possible to gather details about the computer's location and maybe even about the culprit. As a user of the AntiTheft feature, you submit the AntiTheft protocol to the authorities. The local department can then forward the protocol to the special departments responsible for cybercrime.
Engraving your telephone number somewhere would have also been helpful. Some motherboards include a password feature in the bios that will not allow the pc to boot. This does little to get it back but will not allow the thief to gain access to the data by any normal means.
Michael
http://www.fragrancebrand.com
http://www.supremecenterhosting.com
2006-12-24 08:04:43 · answer #2 · answered by Michael D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to contact the police, because there are procedures to track a computer, but you can not just go and ask all The ISP to open their files for you, usually a computer has an ID but if the computer is never connected to the Internet, then you will never be able to find it, the police can help you to find the ID and track the computer if the computer ever gets connected to the Internet.
2006-12-24 08:03:51 · answer #3 · answered by elcabula2002 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most likely it was just idiots, not "professional crooks", so you might want to check all the local pawn shops/used computer places. The cops might also be able to locate it if the thieves are dumb enough to try and use your computer to go on-line. Let's hope they are!
Best wishes...
2006-12-24 08:01:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
got nay web-cams? security? ask in the neighbor hood if some one suspicious was in the hood or some one got a laptop. did u call the police?
2006-12-24 08:05:20 · answer #5 · answered by Edvard F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is unfortunate.
I am still looking for the question so I can help. :)
2006-12-24 07:58:52 · answer #6 · answered by Mariam S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋