My Laptop was stolen

[OvertheRainbow4U]

About a week ago, I had my Toshiba Satellite laptop stolen, along with my little darling Kodak digital camera and an external hard drive. After being heart broken for several days, I am slowly recovering from all that. I want to buy a new laptop (I think) but wonder how to possibly protect it. I am using a loaner laptop now, an ancient machine with Windows XP on it, you really cannot do much on it. Of course, better than nothing, but you can't do any pictures editing for one thing.

Any ideas? I still miss everything that's gone. Luckily I had a second backup on a flash drive that the intruders missed, and now am carrying it with me everywhere.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[HerMajesty]

My daughter and her computer guru hubby have all their computer stuff backed up with a secure site online. So, if anything gets stolen, it's only the hardware they would have to replace.

How terrible for you..................I'm so sorry you had such a loss. I suggest you make another back up right away.......flash drives can also fail.....

[cheaver]

That is so awful for you. I read recently about a man who had his stolen - but he had installed some sort of GPS tracking system on it. Not only was the computer tracked it also took pictures of the thief as it was being used. The thief was then caught & prosecuted.

For picture editing try picmonkey. It's free & user friendly.

[suesjools]

That is so awful for you. I read recently about a man who had his stolen - but he had installed some sort of GPS tracking system on it. Not only was the computer tracked it also took pictures of the thief as it was being used. The thief was then caught & prosecuted.

For picture editing try picmonkey. It's free & user friendly.

Clever man, I like his thinking.

Sorry to hear about your loss. I sympathize, I'd be lost without my Toshiba laptop, got it as a Xmas present in 2007 and it's my favorite puter yet.

Have you reported this to the police? It's possible it will turn up at auction somewhere locally.

Sorry I don't know much about puter protection, though Cheaver's story sounds like a good idea. Not sure how you'd install GPS on a puter, maybe one of our tech gurus will have some ideas.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[Bohemian]

Lenova laptops seem pretty good, I have used the same one for a while, no problems, touch wood

[KAYS6912]

About a week ago, I had my Toshiba Satellite laptop stolen, along with my little darling Kodak digital camera and an external hard drive. After being heart broken for several days, I am slowly recovering from all that. I want to buy a new laptop (I think) but wonder how to possibly protect it. I am using a loaner laptop now, an ancient machine with Windows XP on it, you really cannot do much on it. Of course, better than nothing, but you can't do any pictures editing for one thing.

Any ideas? I still miss everything that's gone. Luckily I had a second backup on a flash drive that the intruders missed, and now am carrying it with me everywhere.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That's terrible!

Try downloading Picasa 3 for photo editing. It's free and very easy to use.

[damian_steele]

I want to buy a new laptop (I think) but wonder how to possibly protect it.
Any ideas?

That really depends on what you mean.
Physical protection ranges between using a security cable to lock it to an imovable object and keeping it in a secure room, in a locked safe in a property with a quality alarm system (linked to the local LEOs).


You could also use passwords and encryption on the computer itself making it harder to access. Online or "cloud" storage of your files could save you losing important documents, but will probably cost you money.

Some local police or security companies - maybe even your insurance company - can offer ways of marking the laptop with UV visible ink, SmartWater or other systems that would be useful in proving the laptop was yours should it ever be found.

As another poster has mentioned, you could also get tracking software installed on the laptop to enable you or the police to locate it should it go walk-about once more.

An easier method, should you have one to hand, would be that when you are not using it you leave it underneath a bad tempered, intruder-hating dog.

[OvertheRainbow4U]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR="#000080"]Million thanks to everyone for your ideas.

@HerMajesty: thanks for the idea to back up with a secure site online. Will look into it. The reason I even had a flash drive was because the other one (WD) had a loose USB port in it, was on & off all the time, at times would go dead for days on end.

@cheaver: that GPS tracking system sounds wonderful! Will certainly try picmonkey.
The story sounds fantastic! I love it!

@suesjools: oh yes, I called the police immediately once I discovered all this missing, they looked around and gave me a report number. This was the last I heard from them. Looks like I am not the only one in my neighborhood, however no one cares. I emailed 3 local tv stations and a reporter from a large daily newspaper who btw was the only one to reply. She said that this isn't enough for that newspaper story. That's about it.

I checked the local CL, found a few ads from people whose laptops were stolen; one of them begged for their laptop to be returned saying it had family pictures on it that are irreplaceable - this broke my heart.

@damian: I mean physical protection so it won't get stolen. Or possibly a GPS - I am researching about this now. Thanks for your advice.

[suesjools]

[QUOTE=OvertheRainbow4U;1508716][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000080]Million thanks to everyone for your ideas.

@HerMajesty: thanks for the idea to back up with a secure site online. Will look into it. The reason I even had a flash drive was because the other one (WD) had a loose USB port in it, was on & off all the time, at times would go dead for days on end.

@cheaver: that GPS tracking system sounds wonderful! Will certainly try picmonkey.
The story sounds fantastic! I love it!

@suesjools: oh yes, I called the police immediately once I discovered all this missing, they looked around and gave me a report number. This was the last I heard from them. Looks like I am not the only one in my neighborhood, however no one cares. I emailed 3 local tv stations and a reporter from a large daily newspaper who btw was the only one to reply. She said that this isn't enough for that newspaper story. That's about it.

I checked the local CL, found a few ads from people whose laptops were stolen; one of them begged for their laptop to be returned saying it had family pictures on it that are irreplaceable - this broke my heart.

@damian: I mean physical protection so it won't get stolen. Or possibly a GPS - I am researching about this now. Thanks for your advice.


While searching, I found this link and loved it:


Sorry to hear the authorities were so hopeless, glad you're getting protection. Definitely something to look into myself when the financial situation improves.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[bluebedouin]

Just found this on a search.I haven't gone into it in any detail yet but certainly looks worth a try.
It's a free downloadable program called prey,available from preyproject.com