We recently showed you how to back up your computer in 5 minutes and highlighted an individual who had her laptop stolen, while she was typing on it, losing all of her data. You definitely need to back up, but if you want to take things a step further, you can install laptop tracking software too. Again, this is straightforward and easy. If you can install an app on your iPhone, this should be easy to do and takes about 5 minutes.

How to Set Up Notebook Tracking

To start tracking your notebook’s location, we will use the free tool called Prey, which earned an Editor’s Choice award for the ease of use and ability to track down your notebook, take a picture of the thief and more.

Prey is a free tool will let you track up to 3 devices including MacBooks, Windows Notebooks and Android smartphones. If your device is stolen, Prey can track it down for you and help police recover the notebook or smart phone.

1. Download: Download the Prey Software to your computer. This software works on mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu, Linux and Android. When you visit PreyProject.com you will see the download appropriate for the notebook you are using.

2. Install: Install the Prey Software tool and register your notebook to the account. After downloading, double click on the tool and follow the on screen prompts.

3. Test: Test out the features by logging in and reporting your notebook missing. There’s no point in setting up Prey and not checking it. This is a good time to see if the webcam capture and location information is working. In our tests, the accuracy was astounding using just the nearby WiFi networks.

In most cases everything will check out and you will be ready to track your notebook. Don’t forget to change the status off of missing until you need it.

In all, you should be up and running in about 5 minutes and better prepared to deal with a lost or stolen computer. We recommend sharing the information with the police and filing a report if it is stolen rather than chasing down the thief yourself. You can see their location and IP address which will give police the info they need to go further.

Sample Information About A Lost Notebook's Location

Of course, you could also take embarrassing photos of your thief and shame them, similar to the hilarious video captured by a geek who had his notebook stolen.

How to Install Laptop Tracking Software In 5 Minutes is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

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.

UPDATE: Hidden has ended the promotion early and is no longer offering free use of the app.

Hidden is similar to Prey, the free service we gave an Editor’s Choice award recently. Unlike Prey, which works on Windows, OS X and Android, Hidden is only for OS X at the time being and it isn’t normally free.

Another way that Hidden is different is the company’s front and center promise to work with local police after your computer is stolen, which will be a big help to users who don’t want to track down their laptop on their own either because of the confrontation or their inability to understand all of the networking data that Hidden collects. Users will also appreciate the fact that hidden doesn’t collect information until the laptop is reported stolen.

One issue that can get in the way of a tool like Hidden is if you’re computer doesn’t have a guest account for the thief to log on to or if the thief wipes your hard drive and reinstalls OS X. To protect yourself, you may want to enable a guest account and you should set a firmware password.

Via Lifehacker

Hidden Unhides Your Lost or Stolen Mac, Available Free Until January is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Set your password hint to your email and cell phone number. This way if the person tries to logon looking for contact info your information stays safe but they can still find your contact information.

If you do this you should make sure that remember your password and it won’t help if your laptop is stolen, but in the event that it’s found by someone who is honest you and your laptop may be reunited.

To set up a password hint follow these steps in Windows 7.

Via Unplggd

Simple Step to Make Your Lost Laptop Easy to Return is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Phoenix Technologies, notably known for making Bios software, has a new service call FailSafe that helps you track the last place your laptop connected to the internet, retrieve or delete files and even disable the computer completely.

Locating

When it comes to locating your laptop FailSafe provides several ways to track it down, including;

• IP address general location with IP
• GPS
• Webcam
• Wireless SSID Name

The Dell Studio 14z we tested was not equipped with GPS and Dell has not enabled the Webcam feature so we will focus on the other locating and data protection options.

Every time your laptop protected with FailSafe connects to the Internet a great deal of information is logged to help you track it down in the event that it has been lost or stolen.

When you tell FailSafe to locate your laptop you’ll be able to see when it last accessed the internet, its IP address, ISP, general location and if connected via Wifi the name of the wireless network.

If you are simply trying to track down your laptop this may give you a clue as to where you left it.

While you won’t be able to see the exact location of your laptop without GPS, the ability to see the name of the Wireless network it is connected to and the IP address will help you in any recovery attempts you make. Thanks to the IP address college students may be able to ask their network administrator to track down what room a missing laptop is connecting from.

If you prefer not to play detective then FailSafe will coordinate with local law enforcement to track down your lost or stolen laptop for $39.95.

Protecting

On top of locating your laptop FailSafe offers several easy to use protection options to help you keep your private data safe.

Once you’ve logged into the FailSafe dashboard from another computer you can retrieve important files that you don’t have backed up. The “Retrieve Files” option will let you recover files the next time the computer connects to the internet without the thief knowing that you are doing anything.

The retrieval process does have limitations and shouldn’t be used to replace a full-scale backup solution since it can only recover files up to 5 MB and 25MB worth of files at a time. You also need to know the location, file type or name of a file which presents a challenge. You can use wildcards like, *.* to recover all files from a directory or *.doc to recover all documents but you cannot browse contents of the drive.

You can also delete files in a similar manner if you just need to keep a document away from prying eyes. After you select files to delete FailSafe will remove them the next time your computer connects to the Internet.

After deleting and recovering all the files that you need you can also disable the computer so that it is useless to whoever took it. You can customize the message that is shown on screen to tell the individual how to return your stolen laptop. When you are reunited with your laptop you can enter a code and gain full access to your laptop again.

Details

Since the FailSafe service enjoys a close relationship with your notebooks BIOS, its part of it, FailSafe continues to work even if a new hard drive is installed. It will also continue to work if Windows is reinstalled by installing behind the scenes.

The FailSafe service is currently available on Select Dell Notebooks as part of the CompleteCare service package and on the Samsung Go Netbook. After your initial purchase you can extend your subscription to the FailSafe service by paying $39.95 for an additional year or $79.95 for 3 years. You can also purchase support plans in the event you need help with the FailSafe service.

Pros:

• Built into Bios.
• Remotely retrieve or delete files.
• Great deal of information about laptop location.
• Cooperation with Law Enforcement for stolen laptops.

Cons:

• Must know where files are located or what they are named.
• Limited to 25 MB for each file recovery.
• Must purchase with your new computer.
• Bundled with Dell CompleteCare.

Bottom Line

The FailSafe service provides several useful features to safeguard your laptop and the information you keep on it. Even with the limitations on file recovery; FailSafe provides users with useful features and assistance in tracking down a lost or missing laptop.

FailSafe is limited by the fact that you can only purchase it with a new computer and when purchased from Dell, you must purchase it as part of Dell CompleteCare package. But, if you’re already looking for accidental coverage then FailSafe is a strong laptop location and protection service.

Hopefully, in the future, you’ll be able to purchase the FailSafe service direct from Phoenix at any point in your laptop’s life.

Review of Phoenix FailSafe: Track Down Lost Laptops and Data is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Nobody knows what happened to the package and USPS’s tracking system shows that it never even left the Florida shipping center.

There are several other USPS customers complaining of similar treatment in the comments section on the blog post.

USPS Loses Five Insured ThinkPads, Compensates Owner w/$74 is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.