NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Notebooks - General › The most important ? in laptop theft
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

The most important ? in laptop theft - Page 2

post #21 of 40
12/18/05 at 2:07pm
im sure you all understood him, give him a break.

grow up. so he cant type the right word. imo if you cant get what his point of the post is, maybe you need to go back to highschool. (:

i agree with the original post, however, anyone can boot from linux live cd's and get passwords like that!
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 40
12/18/05 at 2:20pm
I still don't get what the OP was trying to ask?!?!?!

Security on any electronics. be it laptop, MP3 player, digital camera..
Whatever.. It is primarily YOUR responsibility to not leave it open to theft.
AND, even then.. If someone wants something bad enough, they will get it, and will find a way to use it, sell it, regardless of any security.. aside from self destruction.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 40
12/18/05 at 2:32pm
you can buy a mission impossible thingy that explodes it when you press a button
buy uyour dell with the replacement warranty and u get a knew one
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 40
12/18/05 at 3:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
im sure you all understood him, give him a break.

grow up. so he cant type the right word. imo if you cant get what his point of the post is, maybe you need to go back to highschool. (:
Can you explain what he was on about?
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 40
12/18/05 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CEO
I was ready about the stolen laptop thread, and was also saying to myself: If you have a laptop and install lojack. It wouldnt be at least 50% helpful. Think about it if your smart enough to install lojack on your computer you must be smart enough to put a password on Bios and the xp on start up. but if you have a password in start-up how can they get on the internet. Because even if you go through safemode you cant install any programs,(cause of the admin password) since you can't get into AOl.
And the scenario of reformat and other smart things then came to mind that the idea of one of the theives being A+ computer smart and if he's that computer literalte don't you think he might know how to hot-wire the password chip. RENDERING THE SOFTWARE USELESS and thats right all the arguments going back and forth talking about will it work on bios will be totally useless.

But even on the site these people should have there laptops stolen cause their idiots, cause to get in the OS you need the password or be have a degree in computer engineering, so can you disscuss with me if i am right

EDIT: sorry about the typing, its cause im on my down time on the adderall. and my touch pad on my C640 makes the cursor go haywire. and it doesnt help that im typing reading and watching tv. But im not ranting or stupid just disscuss this without flaming PLZ i just need to know some answers :chris:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MitchellO
Can you explain what he was on about?
His first statement is about lojack. He basically said that if someone was paranoid/smart enough to want security like lojack wouldn't they password protect the BIOS or windows. And if that is the case then how would lojack work in the first place if the computer couldn't even get to the Internet.

Also he was asking if someone was persistant enough to know that the BIOS password is on a security chip, would someone be able to short out that chip and still have access to reformat the drive.

------------- Me now-------------
But lets face it, most laptop thefts are for the hardware, not the information. People could care less if they had access to your term paper or not but a laptop is worth money. So does a BIOS password really help for college students. Not really, it just keeps people from using your laptop but they will still steal it. So the real answer is not to let the laptop be in a situation where it could be stolen. And if you have xp pro you should be encrypting the hard drive anyways just to feel more safe.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 40
12/18/05 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearNo1
You also seem to forget to capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence when you type fast. Additionally, the I in "i'm" and "i" should be capitalized.
no, i didn't forget, i'm just lazy. then again, i wasn't the one criticizing people for their spelling, so there. they're criticizing people for spelling and grammar, which is a ridiculous thing to do since we all make these kinds of mistakes, especially when typing and what not.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 40
12/18/05 at 5:07pm
people are so critical in an online forum. who the hell cares?

if you cant understand people because of their/there, read a book.

anyone found a way around a bios password?
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 40
12/18/05 at 5:09pm
I think it would be best to have lojack and not bios protect your password. Have it so you have one login account that doesn't require any password. If you are lucky, the thief will be stupid enough to login to that account and use the computer.

If you use a BIOS password, it isn't going to help you get the computer back.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 40
12/18/05 at 6:10pm
Thread Starter 
I'll sum it up like this: Lojack installs on windows right? what im saying is if a person is smart enought to get tthe lojack program, dont you think he'll put a password on start-up. And if he does put a password on windows start-up how can he get on the internet if he does not have access to the windoes programs. And after that question was the question of if he really knew how to sawp out drives and go through BIOS, don't you think he could be in computer engineering or be on this site. I mean the tread of getting through BIOS just came out and showed how to burn the security chip. So what im saying if this all is possible what is the real security we cacn have?
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 40
12/18/05 at 6:12pm
The best security is to not have your laptop stolen in the first place. Once it is stolen, it is really up to the competence of the thief on whether you get it back.
Reply
Reply
post #31 of 40
12/18/05 at 7:00pm
^^ditto
Reply
Reply
post #32 of 40
12/18/05 at 8:34pm
Laptop theft is just a matter of removing/reformatting the hard drive. Even if you have a BIOS password and whatnot isn't there a BOIS reset jumper on every motherboard? A fresh hard drive or a complete reformat will make every password a non-issue.

A laptop parts are many time worth more than the whole. Hence new machines being parted out on ebay. A couple hundred each for a LCD screen, motherboard, and throw in $100 for a working DVD burner and $50 each for a HD and a good battery and you're looking at $600 easy for a computer that might be worth $700-900 with full functionality.

My home was burgularized at night a couple years ago. Lucky for me (or my work) the thieves were so intent on getting the PS2 they didn't see or desire the brand new black Thinkpad that was sitting on my coffee table. I've certainly put more though into theft ever since then. A lucky string of events also kept the theft from being worse than it could have been.
Reply
Reply
post #33 of 40
12/19/05 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moman
Laptop theft is just a matter of removing/reformatting the hard drive. Even if you have a BIOS password and whatnot isn't there a BOIS reset jumper on every motherboard? A fresh hard drive or a complete reformat will make every password a non-issue.
Thats incorrect. Dell purposely stores the primary/user passwords in the NVRAM. Removing the CMOS will not clear these passwords. Someone who steals a properly passworded Dell notebook will effectively have a $2000+ paperweight!
Reply
Reply
post #34 of 40
12/19/05 at 3:28pm
Thread Starter 
but like I said all a person really has to do is find the security chip and jump-it, causing the whole chip to reboot and a new fresh password for bios is yours to be had
Reply
Reply
post #35 of 40
12/19/05 at 3:44pm
NM- Just read how Lojack worked on laptops. seems stupid.

If any theif is smart enough to steal a laptop, all they need to do is buy another motherboard and swap it out. Format/Wipe the HD on another unit and reinstall.
Reply
Reply
post #36 of 40
12/19/05 at 4:19pm
lol those ps2s are like burgler lightning rods
Reply
Reply
post #37 of 40
12/19/05 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thorndt
This kind of brings up an interesting question:

What do you consider "good" security for your laptop?
I guess this question can be broken down into several pieces--
a) Physical security
b) Data security (access security?)

For b), short of whole-hard-drive encryption, is preventing access even possible?
1) BIOS Password
2) XP Password
3) Padlock/Keylock on bag/backpack you carry laptop in

* #3 is something I used when someone I know took advantage of my trust and found out 1 and 2 and downloaded spyware on my previous laptop.
Reply
Reply
post #38 of 40
12/19/05 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
anyone found a way around a bios password?
Sorry to double post (at work and I'm hiding NBF behind other windows)

In a notebook: No idea.
In a desktop: Pull the circular battery from the motherboard.
Reply
Reply
post #39 of 40
12/19/05 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by somms
Thats incorrect. Dell purposely stores the primary/user passwords in the NVRAM. Removing the CMOS will not clear these passwords. Someone who steals a properly passworded Dell notebook will effectively have a $2000+ paperweight!
Even so, as others have said, a theif could buy a cheap motherboard on ebay and have a like new $2000 XPS for $300. Not that I advocate stealing, but there is really no fool proof way to protect your stuff. That's why I prefer non-descript bags (not a DELL XPS backpack).
Reply
Reply
post #40 of 40
12/19/05 at 7:29pm
the best way to prevent theft of ur laptop is to always have it near u. Go somewhere? Well carry it with you, never leave it lying around where someone can take it.

Thou that's not to prevent someone from mugging you for it, but that's just sad if a theif does do that.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Dell Notebooks - General
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Notebooks - General › The most important ? in laptop theft