As we take out laptops on the road more and more, the threat of laptop and notebook theft becomes an even bigger issue.

While there are a number of programs out there to help you find your stolen computer, not all of them come with a team of notebook ninjas that can coordinate with local law enforcement to handle the potentially spooky and dangerous recovery process.

In honor of Halloween, Absolute shared the following scary notebook recovery stories with us. These recoveries are made possible with LoJack for Laptops , which starts at $40 for the standard edition. For a limited time, you can get a year of Premium LoJack for Laptops recovery for $30 on Groupon.

LoJack for Laptops can track down your stolen laptop, and the Absolute Theft Recovery team can coordinate with the police to recover your notebook, keeping you clear of scary situations.

Held At Gunpoint, An Absolute Software Customer Gets Revenge & Her Laptop Back

“I was robbed at gunpoint during my freshman year in college. After having a gun pointed at me and being threatened multiple times, my laptop bag was taken which had my laptop, wallet, keys, etc. Luckily I had LoJack for Laptops on my laptop. After two months of waiting patiently, I got a call from the detectives saying that my laptop had finally been turned on and that LoJack was tracking it. Not only did I get my laptop back, but the man who robbed me is now in jail, no longer with the ability to threaten anyone with a gun. I also believe the police recovered other laptops which he had stolen, and these recoveries were all because I had LoJack. The only negative thing was that everything was erased from my laptop when I got it back so I lost all my pictures, documents, etc. But I was impressed that although he cleared the hard drive, LoJack was not erased. LoJack for Laptops is definitely a must have. :]” – Brooke, Southern California

Routine Questioning Leads to Armed Standoff

In Tucson, Arizona, Absolute’s Theft Recovery Team identified a strong suspect and provided evidence to local police. When officers confronted the thief, what should have been routine questioning quickly escalated into a tense, armed standoff before the customer’s laptop was safely recovered. The lead investigator on the scene said, “This one really got my heart pumping,” proving that the incident could’ve easily become deadly for an ordinary civilian.

Recovery Uncovers Identity Theft and Drug Ring

While investigating a case in Ventura, California, Absolute’s Theft Recovery Team informed police that a potential suspect changed locations repeatedly. Using LoJack for Laptops’ patented technology and tools, the Team was able to assist the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department with what they needed to trace the suspect to a seedy motel, and then on to a fancy hotel, where police were able to successfully recover the laptop in question. Not only did the stolen laptop contain evidence of identity theft, the suspect was also in possession of a large cache of drugs and was taken into custody immediately.

Two Arrests for the Price of One

In Metairie, Louisiana, a high school student’s laptop was stolen in a vehicle break-in. Because the computer was protected by LoJack for Laptops, Absolute’s Theft Recovery Team was able to quickly gather the evidence needed to enable police to execute a search warrant. When officers arrived on the premises, the suspect barricaded himself inside, requiring police to make a forced entry. Once inside, police recovered the laptop and made a two-for-one arrest. The suspect was taken into custody along with his roommate, who had multiple outstanding warrants.

Residential Break-in Leads Police to a Stockpile of Stolen Weapons

Following a residential burglary in which a suspect spent three days loading property out of an ex-army officer’s home, including a laptop and an arsenal of more than 50 guns, Absolute’s Theft Recovery team used its forensic techniques to provide police with the names and addresses of two possible suspects. Upon further investigation, authorities determined that one of the suspects was in fact a secondary victim, whose identity was stolen and was being used by the other suspect to gain assets online. Because of the information that the Theft Recover Team provided to law enforcement, police were able to execute a warrant on the top suspect in question. Not only were police able to recover the customer’s computer, they were also able to recover additional computers (one belonging to the secondary male victim), as well as a stockpile of weapons.

It is important to remember that there are free laptop tracking solutions, like Find My Mac and Prey, but these solutions don’t include recovery support that works directly with police.

Read: How to Protect Your Notebook From Loss and Theft

If you don’t use a solution that works with police, please be sure to contact them on your own before you attempt to recover a lost or stolen laptop — you never know what’s going to be waiting on the other side of the door.

Image via Libelul on Flickr

5 Scary Notebook Recovery Stories: Guns, Drugs and Identity Theft is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

They have all been recovered when Absolute helped law enforcement track down stolen notebooks. Without special software, a lost notebook can ruin your day and potentially cause thousands of dollars in lost information.

If you have the right software installed, you can track down stolen laptops, recovering your hardware and company information. Absolute Software makes notebook tracking technology which can be used to wipe files from notebooks and to help law enforcement track down stolen notebooks. With 5.5 Million computers stolen annually, there are bound to be some amazing stories, so we went to the makers of LoJack for Laptops to find out some of the craziest laptop recovery stories.

5 Crazy Laptop Recovery Stories

Absolute Diffuses Risky Situation: Laptop Recovery Leads Law Enforcement to Stockpile of Explosives

An organization’s ex-employee stole a company laptop before leaving the business. Using Absolute’s forensic tools, Theft Recovery Investigators were able to identify that the user was actively searching for bomb-making materials. Absolute alerted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the laptop was recovered – alongside several dangerous, improvised explosive devices.

The $100,000 Recovery: A Major Michigan Community College Recovers Thousands in Stolen Goods

After noticing that four laptops locked in his classroom were missing, a professor from a Flint, Michigan based college notified campus security. As the campus computers were protected with Computrace for added security, Absolute leveraged forensic tools to provide the thief’s known location. With search warrants in hand, police were able to recover more than $100,000 in collateral – filling up an entire police car with stolen campus goods including computers, digital cameras, and personal items belonging to campus employees.

Stealing the Show: Absolute’s Theft Recovery Team Tracks Down a Laptop… and a Serial Robber

Barry Sebesta, a Bradfordwoods, PA resident came home from work to find his house had been broken into. Immediately noticing that his laptop and his wife’s wedding band and engagement ring were missing, Barry called the police and also filed a report with Absolute. Working in parallel with local police, Absolute’s Theft Recovery Investigators were able to pinpoint the location of Barry’s laptop using LoJack for Laptops, leading the police to a thief who had committed over a dozen burglaries, with more than 1,000 pieces of stolen jewelry in his possession. “The police had no leads prior to the location provided by the Theft Recovery Team,” said Sebesta. “Now, I tell everyone about LoJack for Laptops.”

Computrace Outsmarts The Rest: Detroit Public Schools Recovers More Than 300 Laptops

With 141 schools throughout the Detroit Public Schools district, DPS looked to Absolute’s Computrace product to protect 56,000 computers used by teachers, administrators and students. In one particular case, DPS used Computrace and the help of local authorities to track down a stolen laptop to a computer repair shop well known for wiping clean devices and subsequently re-setting their passwords. As Computrace survives hard drive wipes, DPS was able to identify the laptop and facilitate its return. “We would have never recovered any of the 300 plus laptops stolen from our district without the aid of Absolute Software,” said Robert Barenie, special investigator for DPS.

Laptop Recovery 101: Absolute Software Recovers College Laptop

College freshman Bill Kotnarowski was no stranger to laptop theft. Having heard stories of laptops being stolen on college campuses, Bill made sure to purchase Computrace LoJack for Laptops in order to protect his “lifeline” and all of the information stored on it. According to a survey conducted by Absolute Software, dorm rooms and schools are among the top five places for laptop theft. Bill made the mistake of leaving his backpack, with his laptop in it, unattended on the first floor of his house one night. His backpack was stolen that night, and when he notified the police, he was informed that his laptop was one of 12 that had been stolen in the last two days. Immediately, Bill reported the stolen laptop to Absolute Software. With the help of their Theft Recovery Team, Absolute Software was able to track down the computer and get it back to him. Relieved, Bill said, “If I were to ever buy another laptop, there’s no question in my mind that I would purchase LoJack for Laptops with it.”

What is Laptop Tracking Software?

Laptop tracking software like that from Absolute is available for businesses and consumers who want to be able to track down stolen hardware. Unlike other solutions, such as Prey, where the user needs to work with police on their own, Absolute will work directly with law enforcement to help find your stolen notebook.

We tested out Lojack for Laptops last summer while on the road and where impressed with the tool. Even if the thief wipes your hard drive, Absolute can still track down your stolen notebook or laptop. You can also use these tools to remotely remove files from your computer or lock it up so that the thief can’t get to your files. In addition to the consumer version, Absolute makes a corporate notebook tracking and recovery tool.

What Do Bombs, Stolen Goods and Serial Robbers Have in Common? is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

There are plenty of solutions for tracking down stolen laptops, but most of them require you to install a program before you lose it. Fortunately, there are a few programs and tools that you can use to try to track down your lost or stolen laptop even if you didn’t plan ahead.

The key is, finding the IP address that your laptop is using to connect to the Internet. This is essentially the address for your computer and law enforcement can use it to track your notebook back to a specific area. Programs like Prey and Lojack for Laptops can track down your laptop using the IP address and other information, showing you where it is on the map, and in the case of Lojack, even coordinating with the police on stolen laptops. Our solutions won’t show you where you notebook or laptop is on a map, but you should be able to share it with the police to aid in tracking down your notebook.

First off is the Dropbox File Syncing tool. This handy online storage and syncing tool has a spot in the settings which allows you to see where each computer last connected from. If you log into Dropbox from the web and upload a new file, the stolen laptop will download it and Dropbox will show you the IP address of the notebook.

To do this, you need to login to Dropbox.com, click on My Account and then on My Computers. On the My Computers page, hover over the ? icon and you will see the location of your stolen laptop.

IP Address located with Dropbox

In order for this to work, your computer will need to be connected to the internet and logged on, so it’s not a big help for users who have locked their computer with a password.

Another solution is to look in your Gmail settings, which is a place you should be going anyway to change your password. If you had Gmail open and logged in when your computer was stolen, it will likely try to grab your email as soon as the stolen notebook connects to the Internet. When this happens, Gmail records the IP address which you can share with the police. You can also use this same screen to log your account out remotely so that the thief doesn’t have access to your email and accounts.

Gmail IP Address Location

To access the information, sign into Gmail and scroll to the bottom of the page. You’ll see a line that says, “Last account activity”, followed by a short amount of information. Click Details to open a new window which will tell you where Gmail was recently accessed from. This will provide you with the IP address and give you the ability to log Gmail out on other locations.

Keep in mind, these solutions aren’t designed to help you find a stolen notebook, but they may help. If you are reading this right now and you don’t have a lost laptop, we suggest you check out a solution like Prey, which is free, or a tool like Lojack for Laptops, which comes with support that will work directly with police if your notebook is stolen. You can setup these tools in a few minutes and save yourself loads of time and sanity if your notebook or laptop is stolen.

Dropbox tip Via Consumerist

How to Track Down a Stolen Laptop After You’ve Lost It is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Whether you’re heading to the Super Bowl or hitting the road for vacation, keeping all of your gadgets safe is a top priority and one that can be done fairly easily with a little bit of prep. Credit.com has just shared 10 Super Bowl Scams and How not to Get Played, which includes good advice for online transactions, carrying your credit cards and keeping your laptop and smartphone safe.

In addition to watching out for fake Super Bowl tickets, be sure you’ve updated your antivirus protection to be prepared for the Super Bowl related spam and scams which may try to install a virus on your computer. We recommend Microsoft Security Essentials or another free antivirus tool from AVG or Avast.

Always important for traveling is to keep your credit cards to a minimum,

“Credit Cards, Debit Cards. Try not to take your entire inventory of debit and credit cards with you. OK. I understand that you absolutely, positively need your Packer or Steelers affinity credit card on your person at all times this weekend, but perhaps you could limit your plastic to that one card plus a debit card to ensure access to the cash required to speed your purchases of  $14 beers, $9 hot dogs and favorite team t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts ($32, $42 and $79.99 respectively)  at the concession stands.”

The same goes for your gadgets. If you can slim down to one or two devices instead of 4 different gadgets do so, and leave the extras at home.

When you get to your destination, be sure to secure your notebook and iPad in the safe. If you’re lucky the safe may even have a power outlet to charge your devices. as Credit.com warms, “Your room is not as impenetrable as the Green Bay or Pittsburgh front line. There are lots of folks who walk through it, clean it, restock it, or simply sneak into it looking to collect their favorite types of souvenirs.”

Also, be sure that you keep your smart phone locked down. With more and more financial information taking place on your phone you should have a password to lock the phone in the event it is lost.

To locate your gadgets if you lose them we recommend checking out some of the following tools.

• Find my iPhone – Free for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
• Lojack for Laptops – Theft recovery for stolen laptops – (Review)
• Prey – Locate your lost laptops and Android phones for free. (Review)

Do you have any travel tips for keeping your stuff safe? If so, share them below.

Tips to Keep You Gadgets and Credit Cards Safe When Traveling (Super Bowl) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Losing a laptop can be a painful experience, especially with all of the information we keep on highly portable laptops these days. We just found a cool new app that takes a bit of the pain out of losing a laptop, or having one stolen, by helping you track the notebook down and annoying the thief.

Prey is a service and application which runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android and can help you track down and recover a lost or stolen laptop or cell phone through a variety of means. Prey is similar to services likeLojack for Laptops and Phoenix Failsafe except it’s completely free for up to three devices. If you need more you can purchase pro accounts which deliver from five to 500 devices for $5 to $399 a month, but many personal users will be able to secure their notebooks and gadgets for free.

Prey installs easily on our test computer and within 5 minutes of marking our test Windows 7 laptop as stolen Pry had delivered an eerily accurate location, list of active connections, IP addresses, nearby WiFi access points and a picture of the thief. Because of the way Prey installs your thief won’t know it’s running and in order to uninstall it they’ll need an account password.

If you lose your laptop or it is stolen Pry can track a lot of information that will help you track it down and get it back. If you’re hunting for a lost laptop you’ll have everything you need to retrace your steps. If you are unfortunate enough to have your laptop stolen we recommend handing over your information to the police rather than knocking down the door yourself.

What can Prey Track?

• Network information (IP addresses etc)
• Active Connections
• Nearby WiFi Hotspots
• Trace Route of full connection to the Internet
• Screenshot of current activity
• List of modified files
• Running Programs
• Image from the WebCam
• Geographic Location

With all of this information you can get an eerily accurate location for your laptop. How good is it you ask? Good enough that it the Prey was able to track the laptop to my specific apartment building and placed the marker within 25 feet of my actual residence. That’s using the free version of Prey and only WiFi geo-location.

Our “thief”

To make sure that the information gets uploaded to the Internet you can configure Prey to auto-connect to unsecured WiFi hotspots when you report your laptop missing.

Screenshot of thief’s activity

Prey also provides the hardware configuration of your device, serial number and Unique Identifier (UDID) so that you can prove to police that the notebook is really yours.

Sample of Info collected by Prey

In addition to tracking your lost notebook or Android Phone Prey can perform a series of actions to annoy a thief and or convince him to send return your precious device.

Prey Actions:

• Sound an Alarm  - 30 Seconds of blaring police sirens
• Alert – Provide a popup alert and change the background to tell the thief he is being watched
• Lock the computer – Password protect the computer
• Secure – Hides emails, deletes browser cookies and stored passwords

Prey Conclusion:

Prey may not run as stealthily as some other applications, but it is hidden enough that your average laptop thief won’t find it. The application cannot be uninstalled without your Prey password which means even if the thief finds Prey he won’t be able to remove it…that is unless he formats your hard drive. Prey recognizes this shortcoming an recommends that you add a BIOS password and disable booting from an external drive to help prevent it.

While Prey may not be as hidden as the pay competition it is an amazing application and service that offers users an invaluable service at a price that you can’t argue with. Because Prey works on numerous systems, is easy to install, works as advertised and is free for up to three devices we have awarded it a Notebooks.com Editor’s Choice Award. If you have a notebook or laptop you should install Prey on it today.

How to Track Lost or Stolen Laptops for Free – Review of Prey is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

With the Fall semester lurking right around the corner, now is the time for college students to start looking into essential software for their new computers. Seeing as the new school year is so close, many companies offer back to school promotions for students.

Below is a round-up of software that college students may want to look into. However, prior to purchasing any of this software, students should check with their school to find out what software is available to them for free, or at a large discount from the book store. Many schools offer pricing that is even better than what the actual company offers. For example, some schools offer Microsoft Office and Windows 7 for just $30 each.

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade – $29.99

Microsoft offers a deal for students that allows them to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional from any Windows version (XP or newer), for just $29.99. Many new laptops already come with Windows 7 Home Premium, but Windows 7 Professional allows you to connect to a school’s network more seamlessly using the domain join feature.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Upgrade – $29.99

Though all new Macs come with Mac OS X Snow Leopard out of the box, many upperclassmen may have the previous version of Mac OS X. This $29.99 upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard provides many new features. The most notable feature for students is the addition of Microsoft Exchange support.

Ubuntu Desktop Edition – Free

Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system that sports many of the features that you would find on Mac OS X or Windows 7. You can run Ubuntu on pretty much any PC, or even on a Mac running Boot Camp.

Productivity Suite

Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010 – $79.95

Microsoft Office is a mainstay in the college environment. Nearly every school uses Microsoft Office and expects its students to do the same. Microsoft offers the full suite of Office software at a discounted price just for college students. The suite includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access.

Office 2008 for Mac – $149.95

If you bought a Mac and don’t plan on running Windows on it using Boot Camp or a virtual machine, Microsoft has a version of Office just for you. Office 2008 for Mac includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage (Mac version of Outlook), and Messenger. It is designed to be compatible with Microsoft Office programs.

iWork – $71.00

Have a Mac and want some unique features that Microsoft Office doesn’t offer? Apple’s iWork 09 suite lets you create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with flair. The suite includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Be sure to note that most Pages and Numbers documents are compatible with Microsoft Word and Excel. However, many of the special features in Keynote presentations will not show up in Microsoft PowerPoint.

OpenOffice – Free

Many schools and even businesses are starting to use OpenOffice. Included in the OpenOffice Suite is Writer (like Word), Calc (like Excel), Impress (like PowerPoint), Draw, and Base (Like Access). Many OpenOffice files are compatible with their Microsoft and Apple counterparts.

Graphic Design

Adobe CS5 Design Premium – $449 ($349 w/ purchase of a new Mac)

The most popular graphic design suite just got suite-er with Adobe Creative Suite 5. Adobe itself offers a significant discount for students. Adobe CS5 Design Premium includes most of the applications that a graphic design major would require: Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Acrobat 9 Pro, Bridge, and Device Central.

If you only need a specific Adobe tool like Photoshop you can buy it individually for $199; a savings of $799 off the commercial price. Still, if you need more than one tool you may get a better deal buying an Adobe CS5 Suite.

Alternatively, if you plan on purchasing a Mac in addition to Adobe CS5 Design Premium, Apple offers an extra $100 off of what Adobe charges. For more information about this promotion, check out our Ultimate List of Apple Back to School Promotions.

Corel Painter 11 – $99.00

Corel offers special education pricing on Painter 11, which allows you to paint on your computer, via your mouse or a graphics tablet such as the Wacom Intuos 4. This would be a cheaper alternative to the Adobe Creative Suite if all you plan on doing creating digital paintings.

GIMP – Free

GIMP is a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Though it doesn’t offer near the functionality of Photoshop, it does provide many features that would allow you to doctor up some photos.

Antivirus

Norton Antivirus 2010 – $39.99

Symantec’s antivirus program protects computers against viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, worms, bots, rootkits, and hackers. Also, it automatically updates every 5-15 minutes, protecting your computer from the latest viruses and malware. Norton AntiVirus Version 11 for Mac is also available for $49.99

AVG Anti-Virus – Free

In addition to its paid versions, AVG offers a limited free antivirus solution. It protects against viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. It also ensures that every webpage you visit is safe, prior to actually visiting the webpage.

Microsoft Security Essentials – Free

Microsoft’s free anti-virus solution offers protection from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It provides automatic updates while running quietly and efficiently in the background.

Theft Protection

LoJack for Laptops (1 Year – Electronic Download) – $53.99

LoJack for Laptops helps you recover your laptop if it is ever stolen. The Absolute Theft Recovery team works closely with local law enforcement to retrieve the laptop, using the built-in location identification feature. LoJack for Laptops is also available for Macs, priced at $39.95.

iAlertU – Free

This Mac-only software acts as an alarm system for your computer. Using the Mac’s built-in motion sensor, iAlertU sounds an alarm (that can’t be turned down or stopped by shutting the laptop) if the computer is moved, unplugged, or even barely touched. It even goes a step further to take a picture of the perpetrator and automatically email it to you. The best part; you can use an Apple Remote to arm and disarm the application (or just type in a password if you don’t have one).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rolw_lnNfLU&feature=related

Student Discounts on Essential Back to School Software is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.

Traveling with technology can make a trip much easier when it comes to staying connected, but it also means you need to secure your notebook and other gadgets in a mobile environment. This could be a hotel room, car or coffeeshop – but in any case your notebook will be more vulnerable than it is sitting at your desk at work. On our Great American Road Trip 2.0 we are carrying the new Toshiba Portege  R705 and a bunch of other technology which we want to keep safe which is why we have two tools taking car of notebook security; a Kensington ComboSaver Portable Lock and LoJack for Laptops.

These two tools provide a hardware and software security solution that provided some piece of mind while we are on the road, touring the Black Hills and staying in hotels.

First off is the slim Kensington ComboSaver lock which hooks into the security slot on almost every notebook and allows you to securely fasten your notebook to a table or other item. This is handy for leaving your notebook in the hotel or for use in a coffeeshop. You can also fasten it to a part of the trunk if you want, though I did not do that for this trip.

Second we went with a software solution called LoJack for Laptops from Absolute Software. This tool installs on your notebook and runs in the background. If your notebook is stolen you can call Absolute and they will coordinate with local law enforcement to track down your notebook, and hopefully any other gadgets that were with it. The premium edition even includes a $1,000 service guarantee which may provide a payment if Absolute cannot track down your notebook or run a data delete to wipe the data off of it.

These two solutions combined to make a traveling with technology a bit less of a hassle and adds some security to your gadgets. As always, both of these solutions should be used with a bit of common sense like placing your notebook bag in the trunk before you reach your destination.

For more reviews of Road Trip Gear, check out everything we have on the Great American Road Trip 2.0 and follow the NBRoadTrip tag on Notebooks.com.

Notebook Security While Traveling: Hardware and Software Solutions is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Joshua Alston’s home was burglarized while he was in the shower. His notebook was stolen, but fortunately he was able do some digital detective work to help police recover it. He used an application called LogMeIn to remotely see what the burglar looked like, install Lojack For Laptops and ultimately guide police to the culprit’s apartment.

It is of course best to install LoJack for Laptops prior to your notebook being stolen.  Joshua wrote about his experience at Newsweek.com in detail.

Stolen Notebook Recovered w/ LogMeIn and Lojack for Laptops is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.