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Sunday, December 12, 2010

How to Track Stolen Laptops With a .mac or IP Address

By Carla Boulianne
Track Stolen Laptops With a .mac or IP Address



Computrace LoJack for Laptops states that more than 600,000 personal computers are stolen each year. When a laptop disappears at an airport or coffee shop, the greatest chance of recovery comes from preplanning. Installation of antitheft software offers more protection than trying to track stolen laptops with a .mac or IP address. Protect expensive equipment, personal information and confidential data by practicing prevention.



Instructions
  • Things You'll Need:
  • Tracking software
  • How to Track a Stolen Laptop With a .mac Address

Things You'll Need:


1
Notify your network administrator of the theft. Locating a stolen laptop using a .mac address isn't possible unless the thief gets on the same LAN. This makes recovery unlikely with the exception of a computer used on a college network. The likelihood is much higher if the thief is a student who will log on to the university network with the stolen laptop. In such a case, let the network administrator know of the theft. Supply the .mac address and the network administrator can watch for the laptop to log on to the network.
2
Forget about tracking a stolen laptop over the Internet using a .mac address. Tracking a stolen laptop using a .mac address is not possible over the World Wide Web. This second-level information is not passed through the router to the third-level ISP (Internet service provider).
3
Increase your chances of recovery by preinstalling antitheft software that "phones home" to a service provider or open source software such as Adeona. This allows the original owner to gain IP address information without contracting with a third party such as LoJack.
How to Track a Stolen Laptop With an IP Address


How to Track a Stolen Laptop With an IP Address


1
Contact your ISP (Internet service provider) to see if the thief has accessed the Internet using your service. The ISP issues a location-specific IP address when a computer accesses the Internet. If the owner of a stolen laptop obtains an IP address assigned to her computer since the theft, then the police can track its location.
2
Investigate whether programs such as Yahoo! Messenger or email software that automatically logs on at boot-up are still being accessed. Contact the service provider with appropriate police report documentation and a subpoena to obtain a recent IP address for a stolen laptop.
3


Install Antitheft Software to Track a Stolen Laptop IP Address


Use preinstalled antitheft clients to obtain a recent IP address for the stolen laptop. Supply the IP information to law enforcement.
Install Antitheft Software to Track a Stolen Laptop IP Address
1
Contract with a third party for antitheft protection. Computrace LoJack for Laptops offers a three-year antitheft guarantee for its software. Buyers subscribe to a service that uses installed BIOS firmware to track a stolen computer and supply recovery information to the police. Computrace LoJack claims to recover three out of four stolen laptops using its service.
2
Download and install an open source antitheft client. Adeona is a university-developed open source alternative to tracking services. There is no charge to install the software, which monitors and stores location data. Adeona claims superior privacy protection, as only the owner is able to access location data.
3
Check manufacturer service plans for theft protection details or call customer support. Some computer manufacturers, such as Dell, offer tracking, recovery and data deletion for stolen laptops.




Track a Stolen Laptopwww.LoJackForLaptops.com
Track Down Your Stolen Laptop LoJack for Laptops. Official Site.


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IP Management Toolwww.Netcordia.com
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  • Install tracking software on all laptops, as .mac addresses are rarely useful in recovery, and gaining a subpoena for an IP address is challenging.
  • Third parties may access the tracking information recorded by services such as Computrace LoJack to moniter a laptop owner's movements.




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