Laptops Laptop stolen!

[majorpayne]

Hi,

My laptop was recently stolen. Having never had anything of mine stolen before, this was quite an experience - and quite a bad one at that! The police have said that the chances of catching the thief are quite slim.

So, I've been thinking if there are any ways of tracking down the laptop? I've come across several software's such as Prey, which will help you in tracking down your laptop if it is stolen. How I wish that I had something like this installed on my laptop.

Having none of these tracking software's installed on my laptop, is there any other way of getting clues to it's current location? The laptop is running a genuine copy of Windows 7 Home premium, and has MSE anti virus installed. The automatic updates are set to run on a daily basis, and MSE also checks for virus definitions on a daily basis.

Is there any way that Microsoft would be able to provide me with the most recent IP address used to download any of these updates based on my Windows serial number? (This is all considering that the thief has not formatted my computer)

Any other suggestions are welcome!

Thanks

 

[ivhere]

It is not possible for Microsoft track serial because almost all laptops have Pre-installed OS. Which are always OEM version which means that microsoft issues only one serial of specific version of OS to a manufacturer and Manufactures use same serial in all of their product lines with same version of OS installed.

You must talk to manufacturer customer care and see if they can register your serial number as stolen. It is pretty common to have problems on laptops. If it some how reach for a repair to their service center, they could help to get it back.

 

[sunny27]

Posting the make of your stolen laptop would help. Laptops like Thinkpads have in built anti theft features like Computrace. Did your laptop have anti theft s/w or features? Were they activated?

 

[majorpayne]

It is not possible for Microsoft track serial because almost all laptops have Pre-installed OS. Which are always OEM version which means that microsoft issues only one serial of specific version of OS to a manufacturer and Manufactures use same serial in all of their product lines with same version of OS installed. You must talk to manufacturer customer care and see if they can register your serial number as stolen. It is pretty common to have problems on laptops. If it some how reach for a repair to their service center, they could help to get it back.

I spoke to the manufactures customer care. They have asked me to speak to Microsoft to deactivate windows on the laptop. They have put a block on my laptops serial number. So if anyone calls them up for support, they will try and get as much info from them (including caller ID etc) and then they will call me up and pass on the information. But other than that, they cannot do much.

Posting the make of your stolen laptop would help. Laptops like Thinkpads have in built anti theft features like Computrace. Did your laptop have anti theft s/w or features? Were they activated?

No. At an extra cost, I could have gotten something like LoJack - which would have been really helpful in tracing the laptop. But I didn't opt for this feature. The laptop is an alienware.

 

[ivhere]

Sorry to Say but I don't think MS could do anything. Reason I have explain earlier.

 

[neojjjk]

do you have the mac id of your laptop ? give it to the cyber cell .

 

[nRiTeCh]

Dell usually has a separate security lock key for disk, bios and machine. This system may now be available for other brands too. Always keep a key installed for your hard drive and do remember the lock/key code. Coz once you forget it and reset the bios, your disk gets wiped and irrecoverable when you laptop boots the next time.

So forget about the hardware, our data is the one which we should be worried about.

Another way to recover the key is to call dell cc asap and register a case and they then give you a temporary key to unlock your bios, system and hard disk. Once that is entered it cannot be reused the next time for same issue as it is really a temporary key. Mind it!!

And dell is pretty smart as they first confirm the ownership and then only proceed further. a They will piss you off with no of confirmations so be ready with whatever details and papers you can get handy at atm.

n thus with tons of good reasons to stay with dell, for me its the no. 1 brand of the world.