Can a stolen computer be found by the internet?

Question

I had a lap top stolen and I'm wondering if there is a way the interent can find if someone is using it? If so, how does it work?

Answer 1

If that computer connects to the internet then yes there are ways to trace it. Typically it is done by the computers own mac address. Some companies actually make programs that secretly implant data to trace it in case it is stolen. Most times though stolen laptops are never recovered.

Answer 2

Hello,

(ANS) To the previous poster, That wouldnt work if the people who stole the laptop were technically savy. They could easily wipe the entire laptop clean in seconds and any tracking or trace software too.

Any tracking mechanism would have to be hardware based, or perhaps a radio tracking unit which gave out a detect able sign to GPS for example, or a device hard coded into the system bios that couldnt be changed or tampered with. Anything software based is a total waste of time & money as it can quickly & easily be removed with the right tools & knowledge.

**If the laptop was stolen your chance of every seing it again are frankly BIG FAT ZERO!!! sadly!!

**Tracing it by its IP or MAC address is a waste of time too. It would be like trying to find a needle in the biggest haystack in the world. You will just have to right it off or try and make a claim on your insurance if you have insurance that covers theft of hardware.

IR

Answer 3

Sure, you can install software which phones home if a laptop is stolen, like a computer vesion of a Lojack. To the best of my knowledge, there is no free verison. It will cost you about $50/year but it is worth it. I first heard about it through PC World Magazine. Here is the link:

"Lock Down Your PC" -- written by Scott Spanuer, pcworld.com (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,114727-page,1/article.html?findid=41908)

PC, phone home: If someone manages to swipe your PC or laptop despite all your precautions, you stand a chance of getting your machine back if you've installed tracing software on it. Programs like Absolute Software's ComputracePlus ($50 per year) and ZTrace Technologies' ZTrace Gold (also $50 per year) lurk invisibly, checking in with the vendor's tracking servers whenever the computer is connected to the Internet. When you report the computer stolen, the software vendor can help authorities locate the laptop and the thief.

Answer 4

it fairly is not well worth all of us's money to try this different than yours... So in concept it would be achieveable to seek for out the MAC tackle however the ISP worried might want a court docket order to demonstrate the guy information. The police don;t have time for that time of monitoring for an elementary computing device... they might if it became a strategies-blowing secred branch of protection one. Oh, if that's a private computing device then a metamorphosis of NIC might completely defeat the hunt.

Answer 5

There is at least one other way no one has mentioned. Suppose you have software, like Yahoo Chat, set to log in automatically when you sign online. Or you have all your passwords saved for the web sites, like Yahoo mail, you visit so you don't have to type them in.

If the thief just hooks up your computer and starts using it then gets online your messenger will log in, or maybe they'll visit yahoo or another web site you visit and since your password is saved they'll get logged in. Yahoo, or the other service provider, will have recorded that IP address.

If you can get in touch with yahoo or the other services you use, and they are willing, they can notify you or the police if and when someone logs into your account and pass along the IP address used. That can be used to locate the thief.

Answer 6

If you installed one of those tracking programs before it was stolen then you can, if you didnt then you cant

although there is a hack to find what city there in if you can contact them and they respond, i dont know the hack personally but one of my freinds does. it basicly gives him the persons IP then he can do ip to longditude and latitude then input those coodinites on google maps to find the city.. (maybe even more detailed?) i dunno

Answer 7

probably not. and even if there was, people who steal laptops always sell them on. they dont keep them for their own use. the person who is using it is probably and unsuspecting innocent person, with no useful information about who they got it from

Answer 8

Not really..If they have access to it then they have more than likely wiped it and moved it on buy now..

Sorry to hear about your loss tho.. : (

Answer 9

short answer is no.
long answer is, only if there is software on there that was put on just for that purpose and odds are there isnt.