Free University of Washington program helps find stolen computers

Parent Cafe
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<p>This was sent to me by a former coworker who has his own consulting business [::</a>… Avantguard Computer&Security Systems …::](<a href=“http://www.avantguardsystems.com%5D::”>http://www.avantguardsystems.com)</p>

<p>Programmers at the University of Washington have developed an application to help track down your computer in the event it has been stolen.
The application, titled Adeona, is available for Windows-, Mac- and Linux-based computers - free of charge.</p>

<p>The application is very easy to install. You can go to:
[Adeona:</a> A Free, Open Source System for Helping Track and Recover Lost and Stolen Laptops](<a href=“http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/]Adeona:”>http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/)</p>

<p>Grab the installation program for your particular system and install it.</p>

<p>Install the entire program on the computer you fear might be stolen (laptops, in particular). Then, you will need to install the “Retrieval Program,” which is included with the Adeona installation program, on a separate computer.</p>

<p>Here’s the scenario to better understand how to use Adeona.</p>

<p>Let’s say your computer is stolen and you have installed Adeona on it.
On a separate computer run the retrieval program. The retrieval program will create a file on your computer with information about the location of your stolen computer. The information contained in this file should be provided to the law enforcement agencies to assist in getting your computer back. </p>

<p>When you install Adeona, you will be asked to enter a password that will be used when you run the “Retrieval Program”. A file will be created which needs to be copied over to the computer that will be used to run the retrieval program. </p>

<p>The beauty of the Apple version is that it even takes a snapshot (or in this case, a mugshot) of whomever is sitting at your computer.</p>

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<p>Wow! (10 char)</p>

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<p>Ok, this is tooooo 1984/Big Brother for me: </p>

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<p>No, that’s my favorite part of this! Too bad I don’t have an Apple :)</p>

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<p>there are several ‘lojack’ for computer products out there. I have one installed on my son’s laptop. it sends an email with the IP address where he is logged on from. The point being (like the software mentioned here) that the computer could be tracked that way if it was stolen.</p>

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<p>“If the device is lost or stolen, but maintains Internet connectivity and unmodified software, the tracking system can keep tabs on the current whereabouts of the device.”</p>

<p>It sounds as if all a thief would have to do is stay off-line with their stolen laptop until they reformat it to avoid detection. And I’d assume that anyone in the business of swiping communications devices would be knowledgeable enough about the technology and how easily they can be tracked.</p>