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Dell supports theft recovery in BIOS of XPS Gen2/M170 & i9300

post #1 of 23
11/9/05 at 1:54am
Thread Starter 
I know there were some "I had my laptop stolen" threads in the past few months so I wanted to share this with everyone.

Below are the release notes. You will find similar support for the 9300 and 6000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dell Inc.
Copyright (C) 2005, All Rights reserved.
www.dell.com


BIOS Release Notes

System: Dell Inspiron XPS Gen2 Series
Version: A05
Build Date: 09/28/2005


Fixes:
======

Enhancements
============
1. Added support for Absolute Computrace Security Solution Feature.
2. Added support for Battery Health Meter(BHM).

The BIOS release has been validated on the following operating systems:
1. Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
2. Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Service Pack 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

What does this mean? If the system is stolen and reported to www.lojackforlaptops.com the police they will help to track it down. If the thief reformats the drive, reloads the OS, swaps the hard drive, reimages the machine the portion of the technology in the BIOS will survive, download and reinstall the software piece and make a call. The next time they go on line the local and proxy IP info is captured and the police go to work.

I hope that helps. Its not perfect, but combined with insurance and/or a lock and cable it could help get it back.
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post #2 of 23
11/9/05 at 2:01am
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post #3 of 23
11/9/05 at 3:10am
hope it survives a bios flash
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post #4 of 23
11/9/05 at 3:34am
It won't. But we have to count on people not knowing this technology exists....
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post #5 of 23
11/9/05 at 3:59am
Thread Starter 
I've been told that the technology resides in a static portion of the BIOS and cannot be flashed out. I don't know about rolling back to the previous version. I do know that Dell will be including the support for all future BIOS updates.
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post #6 of 23
11/9/05 at 4:26am
If it resides in a *static* portion of the bios, how do you put your info in (i.e. computrace account).
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post #7 of 23
11/9/05 at 5:12am
I've been looking for the computrace site again (www.computrace.com is for business users last time I checked).

This sounds like a nifty idea (integrating it into the BIOS). I'll definately have to check it out.
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post #8 of 23
11/9/05 at 5:15am
So like, if someone stole a $3,000 xps 2, then ordered a new motherboard from spare parts... this protects you how? Yea I guess thieves don't know about this stuff. I would suspect that a smart thief would also replace the wireless card so both the ethernet and the wifi mac addresses would be different pretty much killing any chance at finding the notebook.

Cool idea though.
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post #9 of 23
11/9/05 at 9:39am
Does anyone else not enjoy the idea of the possibility of being TRACED everywhere
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post #10 of 23
11/9/05 at 10:54am
I suspect this service works very well. I bet that most people that are desparate enough to steal a notebook (and face a jail sentence) probably don't have much real computer expertise and would not attempt to down flash the BIOS or replace the motherboard. The person they sell it to might be a different story, but chances are that the person buying the notebook won't even know it is stolen.
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post #11 of 23
11/9/05 at 11:32am
More than likely this will result in somebody who bought a laptop off eBay being busted rather than the person who stole it. While it may offer some ability to trace back to who stole it originally, it's unlikely unless they are really stupid or lazy.

Most people who steal computer equipment hire "really smart people" to make sure it is unidentifiable by the time they sell it for a cut of the profit.
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post #12 of 23
11/9/05 at 1:30pm
Thread Starter 
GuruX - the site is either www.lojackforlaptops.com or www.absolute.com

PJK - do you really think someone is going to steal a system and then order a new motherboard from Dell and then have someone install said motherboard or will they just pop in an XP disc and wipe the laptop clean. They can swap Wifi cards, ethernet NIC's, modems, etc until they are blue in the face, the agent just picks up the new MAC address when it makes its next call.

The point is that you *might* be able to get your baby back.
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post #13 of 23
11/9/05 at 1:45pm
Go into your BIOS settings next time you turn on the computer and read about it...

It lets you know that if you either disable or enable it, you WILL NOT be able to change it ever again. I have just left mine on the default (forgot what it was) where you haven't made a decision yet.
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post #14 of 23
11/9/05 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
Just going into the BIOS and enabling the technology WILL NOT make the service work. You would have to load the software agent for it to activate, otherwise it remains in a state of dormancy
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post #15 of 23
11/9/05 at 2:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalugz
Just going into the BIOS and enabling the technology WILL NOT make the service work. You would have to load the software agent for it to activate, otherwise it remains in a state of dormancy
Do you have to pay for the software agent? If so then how much does it cost?
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post #16 of 23
11/9/05 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
You would basically pay for the service for 1, 2, or 3 years.

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?...n&cs=&k=lojack

If it ever gets lost or stolen you file a police report and let them know. They work with local cops to try and get it back.
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post #17 of 23
5/7/06 at 1:35pm
i have a quick question, so here are the facts:

i got my xps stolen a few days ago
i did not "enable" computrace so it may not work
i never subscribed to lojack

the questions:

if computrace wasnt actually enabled would it work?
if i bought computrace today and reported it stolen in a few more days, would it work?
i dont understand the software agent

yeah im pretty sure im doomed
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post #18 of 23
5/7/06 at 1:48pm
na sorry mate u need it installed first, then u don't tell anyone. I think this is one of those things to try to keep quiet because then it is more effective. Nothing is perfect but it sure helps and for 80 dollars i think it gives you a bit more sound security. and you can know that you have a least done somthing to try and get it back and you might even get lucky! but as people have said if a person really knows what they are doing they can get around it!
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post #19 of 23
5/7/06 at 1:51pm
it was worth a thought
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post #20 of 23
5/7/06 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalugz
Just going into the BIOS and enabling the technology WILL NOT make the service work. You would have to load the software agent for it to activate, otherwise it remains in a state of dormancy
If you're paying for the service and you enable it in the bios, you cannot turn it off. it will load a software service into the OS and continue to transmit it's whereabouts. if you delete the software in the OS, the software will reinstall itself. if you turn it off in the bios it will turn it on again. if you replace the motherboard, the software in the OS will renable it in the bios. if you replace the HD, the software will install itself on your computer again from the bios. it is a BITCH to remove once it's been turned on and the service is being paid for.
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