I had my laptop “stolen” several months ago, in the sense that I forgot and left it at a table. When I went back a few minutes later it was gone.
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but someone last night suggested that there might be some way to track the machine through the manufacturer’s website or similar if it has been connected to the internet. This was a Dell Latiitude, about 3 years old.
Is there any plausible way to trace the machine at any scale, even just down to whether it’s the same town so I know whether to keep an eye out for it.
If the thieves stripped it down then there is nothing to track. For all you know they could have dismantled it and sold all the parts on eBay. Or sold it to a company that does the same.
Well, if the thieves were stupid and still using your operating system and files, they may have logged in to your services. Facebook, Dropbox, Gmail, etc. tell you the last few login locations and IPs, and that’ll at least tell you the same town (typically). How to track your stolen laptop without installed tracking program
But… it’s been several months, so probably unlikely they’re still logged in to all that.
It won’t help you this time, but in the future consider getting:
Renter’s/homeowner’s insurance. $100 a year or so covers like $25k of personal property, with a deductible about $200. One stolen laptop will easily pay back several years of policy premiums.
I’m well aware the machine may have ended up as parts on Ebay. This hasn’t been a major concern, in fact I haven’t given it much thought since it happened. Someone just happened to mention the tracking possibility last night and I hadn’t even considered it so i thought I’d ask.
The tracking software looks good, and seems to come pre-installed on the machine. But it also looks like you need to pay to have it activated, and I don’t remember ever doing that. Does anyone know if it’s possible to pay after the fact to have it activated, or if this is strictly an insurance thing: you didn’t pay us for three years, we ain’t helping you now?
I know this isn’t helpful to the OP’s question, but my laptop/tablet/phone is insured as part of my home contents policy. If I left it on a table and some scrote walked off with it, they would not pay out on the grounds that I had not taken sufficient care. The same would apply if someone stole my car using the keys I had left in the ignition (maybe when I went to pay for petrol).
Would this not be the case in the US? If I leave my insured iphone laying on a table in the pub while I go to the bar, would I be able to claim?
Yeah, as far as I know it’s something you have to have done before I don’t know if Dell pre-activates it on certain computers (the pdf wasn’t entirely clear), but I know that I had to specifically buy and turn it on for my Latitude circa 2012. Back then they used Absolute LoJack technology tied into the BIOS, but you still had to pay for it and enter an activation key before it’d come on. Not sure if that’s changed. You can ask them, but I wouldn’t be overly optimistic…
That’s the way my renter’s insurance works. Blake might want to check his if he has one (or a homeowner’s policy).
There was a thread online once about someone whose MacBook was stolen. He turned on the camera remotely, took a picture of a guy that looked like he inside Starbucks’, posted it on twitter or somewhere, and someone posted back “hey, I’m in that coffee shop, the guy is sitting two tables away.” The fellow came and took back his laptop.
One of my inlaws got their iPhone back from a dumpster using “find my phone”; they left it on the counter, the next person took it then tossed it a few blocks away when they realised it was locked and impossible to crack. However, phones have GPS and cell tower locators which laptops won’t.
All IP can do is tell you the approximate location. I suppose with the appropriate remote control capability you could see what the user is doing with it, maybe they’re dumb enough to store personal information that leads to them. The most useful information would be if you coul remotely determine name of the WiFi they ar connected to.