With most of us using laptops as our desktops, a loss is significant. While I do regular backups and have MOZY running as well it would be a real hassle if I had my laptop stolen. But there may be hope out there for those who are like me.
I’ve recently read about and then installed a new product that helps track your laptop when it is stolen. It uses a light-weight application along with a web site login to help you identify your laptop when and if it ever is is stolen and then connects to an IP address. While there are other products like this, the one I’m speaking about is open-source and free. Plus it is very simple to setup.
The product is called PREY and you can read more about it on their website at www.preyproject.com.
If you are interested, I’ve created a detailed set of Instructions on how to install PREY . You can download the PDF file from Installing PREY on Windows XP.
Prey supports Windows, Linux and Mac’s which is great. It can also be loaded on desktops if you are concerned about them. The current version allows you to track up to 3 devices per login. So how does it work. After you install the software you configure it via a login at Prey’s website.
If you lose your PC you merely visit the website and login. Then select the device you want to track and change the settings to indicate it is lost. It will then send a report about the device including IP address, etc..
In my situation PREY had problems sending back pictures using the built-in laptop camera but that may be a configuration issue outside of PREY .
The one gotcha is that when you install it, you cannot obfuscate the name of the product, so anyone recognizing the name can easily disable it. I attempted to do a work-around and change the names to something else, but it disabled the program. Still this is a very good product to consider.