![]() ![]() Through this panel, you can flag your notebook as missing. This is all presented within a dead-simple, user-friendly interface. The control panel features toggle settings that allow you to set up and run individual remote operations. It's easier to set up than standalone mode, and makes it simpler to track and remotely control your notebook. Most people will want to use the service the second way, via a Web control panel on the Prey site. Interacting with your stolen notebook works one of two ways in Prey: In standalone mode, you get messages from your notebook by e-mail, but setting up remote-control operations can be cumbersome. Prey doesn't do this.Ĭontrol your stolen laptop through the Web Some of the paid notebook tracking programs are difficult to render inoperable because they are not written to your notebook's hard drive: LoJack for Laptops' software resides in the BIOS of your notebook, for example. (I say "somewhat," because the thief could still physically remove the hard drive from your notebook, and access its contents by connecting it to another computer.) This can be somewhat thwarted by going into your notebook's BIOS settings and disabling the option for the computer to boot from a USB device or network connection, and locking down access to the BIOS with a password. And, of course, the program will be useless if the thief simply reformats your laptop's hard drive. ![]() If your laptop is stolen, you can use another computer to sign in to the Prey Web site, mark the laptop as missing, and follow the whereabouts of your purloined system through a control panel - assuming the thief takes your notebook online or the software manages to connect to a Wi-Fi access point.īe aware that the Achilles' heel of Prey - and many other notebook tracking services, whether free or paid - is that the tracking program itself can be stopped, removed or deleted if found by a tech-savvy thief. If said address doesn't issue a command to the laptop (such as telling your computer that it is considered stolen), the Prey software returns to sleep and will wake up again at the next time interval. ![]() It "wakes" at a specified interval, goes online (if your laptop isn't already connected to the Internet, Prey tries to connect to the nearest open Wi-Fi access point) and checks in with a specified Web address to see what you have ordered it to do. What's more, it provides no way to physically delete files from the stolen machine, and the tracking software can be removed by savvy thieves.Ĭurrently in version 0.3.3, the Prey tracking software runs in the background processes of your notebook. On the downside, Prey doesn't have the resources to work with police to recover your laptop, as many paid services do. Fortunately, not only does Prey look good and work well, it's in steady development by an active community that's improving and adding features to it. Since Pombo works only with Linux, I'm focusing this review on Prey - which supports Windows, Mac OS X and Linux - as being useful to a much wider audience. That leaves two free, open-source notebook tracking services standing: Prey and Pombo. Yet is its tracking network being maintained? Is anybody minding the store? (I tried to contact the developers of The LaptopLock, but had not heard back from anyone by deadline.) ![]() You can still download the program and install it, and it appears to function. Then there's The LaptopLock, which apparently hasn't been updated since February 2007. (A warning on the site says the network that the Adeona program uses to track notebooks is currently being tested.) As of this writing, the Adeona Web site actually advises people against downloading and using it. But can you have the same confidence in a free alternative?Ībout a year ago, for instance, there were a lot of complaints that the University of Washington's free laptop-tracking service, called Adeona, wasn't working properly. With a well-established company, you can feel pretty sure it will be around in two years if your laptop is stolen. The big question, though, is the reliability and long-term stability of these free-to-use services. ![]()
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