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.

Lifehacker has a great roundup of the Top 10 Downloads for a Road Warrior Laptop. These are programs that no notebook should be without, especially not one that leaves the safety of your couch. Many of these programs are free and will transform a basic notebook computer into a powerful machine that keeps you connected and productive while on the go. I personally use many of these programs already and I am already looking at downloading those that are new to me.

These programs will help you with the following needs and tasks.

• Auto-pause iTunes when you remove headphones
• Make it dual-monitor friendly
• Use a better Wi-Fi finder
• Tether your phone to your laptop
• Save battery power (and power out gracefully)
• Get friendly with Thunderbird 3
• Get “Back” to your Mac or PC
• Make it secure and track-able (also see our Phoenix FailSafe review)
• Turn it into a hotspot (Guide for Connectify)
• Keep your files synched

If you’re new to on-the-go computing or just want to be better at it you need to read this list of programs and make use of it. I’ve been using JuneFabric’s pdaNet to connect my netbook to the internet via the Motorola Droid for the past month and before that I used WMWifiRouter to turn my Windows Mobile phone into a hotspot. The ability to connect my notebook or netbook to the internet through my phone, without messing around with settings all day, is by far one of the coolest and helpful tips on the list!

If you have your own must have programs, like Launchy, share them with us in the comments.

Top 10 Programs for a Travel Ready Notebook is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Losing your laptop can be a huge pain. Not only are you out the cost of your laptop but you may have lost confidential documents or a term paper that hasn’t yet been backed up. There are several programs and services that let you track down your laptop and even work with law enforcement to help recover a stolen laptop.

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.

When Xavier was at the Intel Developer Forum yesterday he had a chance to see a cool new bit of tech from Phoenix Technologies that makes booting your computer faster. How fast is it? Well in case you miss it in the video below the bios boot screen is visible for about a second and Windows 7 is running within 13 seconds…from a cold boot.

The new technology takes the BIOS boot screen you normally see, which gives you system stats and a little logo, and replaces it with a 1 second boot process getting you to work faster. The demo is running on a Lenovo T400s laptop and a tweaked installation of Windows 7, but it is still a very impressive startup time. All this speed makes me wonder what role “Instant On” software like Hyperspace will play when you can get to Windows 7 in less than 15 seconds.

The new technology works thanks to a UEFI-based BIOS known as SecureCore Tiano which manufacturers will be able to use in their upcoming laptops.

Sure this isn’t a wirelessly charging netbook, a massive breakthrough in battery technology or something similar but it is cool technology that is ready to address one of the biggest complaints mobile users have; slow startup times.

The only thing I can’t figure out is how I’m going to be able to hit F2 for BIOS options in a 1 second window!

via GottaBeMobile.com

Introducing The One Second Boot Screen! (video) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

How often do you sit there waiting for the Windows Boot Screen to disappear, just wishing that you could be happily on your way to Twitter or watching a TV Show on Hulu over your lunch break?

My guess is pretty often. One of the biggest complaints that people have with their computers is that they take “forever” to boot up and let them do something. While each version of windows boots faster if you really want instant on access you need to have an operating system like Phoenix Technologies” HyperSpace.

Hyperspace is a Linux OS based on the Mobilin Linux kernel, a version of Linux that is gaining popularity amongst a small subset of netbook users. According to Phoenix Technologies, HyperSpace “delivers instant-on, always-connected access to the Internet and key productivity applications such as HyperSpace Office Suite, Adobe Photoshop, Hulu, McAfee, Real Networks, Yahoo Search, etc.” This instant gratification mode of computing is very attractive to both consumers and manufacturers.

Previously HyperSpace was aimed at the notebook and netbook markets since the light and fast to boot operating system was also very battery-friendly but today Phoenix Technologies announced a partnership with Intel to distribute the HyperSpace software with Intel Desktop motherboards for the Atom 230 and 330 processors. This partnership will allow nettop and other low cost devices to turn on instantly and allow for faster development of these increasingly popular devices.

Tim Barjarin a consumer computing analyst with Creative Strategies lauded the partnership saying, “By pre-integrating HyperSpace with Intel Atom processor-based nettop boards, they are enabling products that deliver end users connectivity, versatility and usability.”

It will definitely be interesting to see how this affects the low cost computer market. So many of these devices, whether they are netbooks or nettops, are judged by how quickly they can turn on and as the devices enter more of our lives we will expect these devices to turn on as fast as our iPhones do. One of the best ways for nettops to invade living rooms is to be able to instantly deliver access to the Internet and specialized applications like many of the coming Internet Enabled HDTVs will be able to do.

For a more detailed look at Hyperspace you can read Xavier’s first impression and check out the video below from jkOnTheRun and read their first look at HyperSpace.

If you’re interested in trying out HyperSpace on your Intel powered Notebook or Netbook there is a free trial of the software available for 21 days in both the Dual and Hybrid flavors to meet your needs and hardware.

Currently if you want to purchase HyperSpace for your laptop your only option is a 1 or a 3 year subscription which ranges from $40 to $160. We don’t have confirmation that this will continue for nettops built through this partnership but it is a likely option. Personally I hope they work out a non subscription model or reduce the prices since I’m not a fan of subscribing to most software, especially an operating system.

HyperSpace: Instant on Coming to Nettops is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Phoenix Technologies announced Phoenix Freeze, an application that uses any Bluetooth enabled phone to secure a notebook. The application detects how far away you and your phone are away from your notebook. Step away from your Phoenix Freeze enabled notebook and you’re automatically logged out of Windows.

When you return to your notebook Phoenix Freeze automatically logs you back in. Here’s a video demo of Phoenix Freeze working with an iPhone.

Users can configure a security zone, which determines when Phoenix Freeze logs them in and out of Windows. There’s also a Green System Mode, which puts the notebook to sleep when the user steps out of range. You can use one phone to control several notebooks.

Phoenix Freeze works with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. It’s available as a free trial download for consumers at PhoenixFreeze.com. Unfortunately, there’s no info on how much the application costs after the 14-day trial.

James Kendrick from jkOnTheRun also pointed out that you can’t use other Bluetooth devices while using Phoenix Freeze.

Phoenix Technologies (NASDAQ: PTEC) offers a range of tools at www.esupport.com.

Phoenix Freeze: Security Proximity Sensor for Notebooks (video) is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.