Laptop stolen on train...

I think people that think they can just steal someone else's laptop is just stupid. They need to just buy there own. It will be a lot more fun configuring you own system and knowing that it is yours and not having to worry that everytime the doorbell rings if it is going to be the cops or not...

unfortunately, at this point in time there is no way to track the stolen laptop. and they wouldn't even have to hack the admin password, they just have to go into the BIOS on boot, do a low level format and install whatever OS they wish and start using it or sell it on FLEABAY. It could wind up anywhere in the world. sorry to hear about your friends loss, some people just suck. Edit: and even if there WAS a website to register the info, why would anyone ever go there to check if their new laptop was stolen? I mean if it WAS stolen they either have to keep it and live with their conscience or give it back to the rightful owner and are out the money they spent. More than likely the guy they bought it from used fake info, so the chances of finding them would be slim at best.

AFAIK you're talking sci-fi. how would all the ISP's know to look for that machine to log on? and how would they know the one who logged on was the one who stole it? maybe they bought it thinking it was a legit purchase. I'm afraid it's unlikely at best that your friend will recover the laptop, or even ever find out where it ended up.

almost certain your friend will

A) never recover the laptop, its gone for good now.

B) never know who took it

C) never know where it ended up or what happened to it after it was stolen, likely already has been sold.


there is no way to track it or to know if it logs on to the net. serials only will help if the police ever find it in a raid on somehwere and bother to check the numbers, but thats highly unlikely. the notebook is gone.

Ouch...I guess I got nothing left. Sorry.

homerus, i am sorry, but you just need to accept the it was stolen and probably on its way to its new owner in the mail.

Some facts:

1) Your laptop DOES NOT send out its serial and all that stuff to ISP.

2) The only point of handing serial number and other laptop info to police is if the police ever find a stolen laptop and check the serial in their database, they could contact you and give it back

3) If your laptop gets connected to the internet, and by some magical reasons the place that offers the hot-spot tracks down its IP adress and hands it in to the police, what do you think police will do? Nothing. You know why? Because probably 95% of all cops out there have no idea what IP adress is. Simply put, the police are just a bunch of buffed up guys who can solve crimes etc. They are not internet "knowledgeable" enough to undersdtad what "hot-spot" is and why they need to check fast it out before the thief leaves the cafe/restaurant/etc

4) Police WILL NOT move their arses from Dunkin' Donuts to save your laptop even if you give them the adress.
Search Warrant, which probably takes week to get approved, plus unwillingness.

5) Why were you so sure that you could track it down that you told your friend you will "take care of it". Did you think internet is that powerful?

6) I am sorry for your friend and you, but the laptop is gone. Unless of course by some magical means the police somehow arrests the guy and find the laptop, and then match the serials and then give it to you.

the reason i said almost is that there is about a 0.000001% chance that maybe the police in the next couple of days will bust some crook and then happen to run the serials for the laptop the guy has with him and match it to the missing one.

the idea that wireless cards broadcast those things is pure fiction, sadly it isnt like the movies and its virtually impossible to track those things down. the police wont really race to your aid (even in a smaller community). frankly they have alot bigger crimes to deal with than finding a stolen laptop thats almost certainly already been resold at least once by this point. the police sadly wont be interested, hell in most cities the police basically dont even investigate stolen vehicles (worth in some cases 10's of thousands of dollars) so dont count on them running full steam to find a laptop worth a couple grand.

i do wish you the best of luck, and i would assume from your posts that you thought by finding the laptop you could come to the female friends aid and get in the good books but i would suggest that the best thing to do now would be find an easy way to break it to her that its not gonna happen.

Unfortunately the ability to have a stolen laptop traced begins with the purchase and installation of a subscription based software recovery tool BEFORE it is stolen. You can read about a few of them at this URL;

http://www.stolenlaptop.com/

There's other tools available too. Inspice trace is another one, and I'm sure there are others. If you go to Inspice's website they will even let you report the details of your laptop as being lost, and in the event that someone should go to the Inspice website, enter in the serial number of the laptop, it will send you an email letting you know someone has "found" your "lost" laptop. You can even provide a reward. (It aint much, but it's something..)

Read more at;

http://www.inspice.com/aprod-code/doc/HOME.HTM

Good Luck.. (If I bought a laptop used, I'd probably "run" the number to see if it was stolen..)

Yep, unfortunately, finding a stolen laptop or computer is a pain if not impossible.

For stolen systems there are two choices:

1- Insurance. Really, I'm serious.
2- Tracking software, which must be installed on it. There are various types of tracking software which will still work even if the computer is reformatted, no tracking software is completely perfect but it is a great help and have recovered various systems.

How is it possible?

Yeah, unfortunately, the people who steal goods are not driven by the fun of building their own stuff. They're just driven by the need of making a quick easy buck and live easy no matter what.