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PSA: All College students: SECURE YOUR LAPTOP

V

Vadatajs

Diamond Member
Mine got stolen out of my office on friday. A simple lock would have prevented that. Get a lock, don't leave your computer unattended. Sometimes even safe places, like where I left mine can become unsafe.
 
I remember when I was in college, one dormitory suffered numerous laptop thefts. Luckily the theives (local high school kids) were dumb and kept hitting the same building. They tried to steal a laptop from some kid, but he was just outside his door or something like that when they went into his room. The cops booked them all and I think all the stolen machines were recovered.
 
LOL... Let me steal from the same place again and again... I'm sure cause I'm such a smart guy I won't get caught: A-HOLE.
 
yeah lock everything.

I work at a major university and even desktops are getting stolen. I thought those small dell towers were cute, until they ended up gone, now i'd much rather have a big fat clunky tower.

I bet those shuttle XPC systems will go quick too.

buy a lock and use it. It won't deter a real thief, but it will keep the casual pilcher away.
 
Check to see if your parents' home insurance policy covers your computer against theft or loss, while you're off at school.

If it doesn't, then buy an insurance policy.

Make backups and store them off-site.

Do these things, and you won't care if your laptop gets stolen. You might even be happy, if the manufacturer has retired your model and has a better one in its place -- free upgrade!
 
Locks are important but smart cards are another level of added protection. All my future purchases, lappy or box, will have to have a smart card package. Even if the hardware is gone forever, the thief/loser will never be able to enter the system other than replacing the HDD with a fresh OS install.

I think there are some smart cards that can detect the position of your hardware upto a certain distance, great feature for on-campus students or office users.
 
how do you lock your laptops?? I can't recall seeing any "attachment-places" for locks, on any laptop...

Also, what good is a smartcard? I can see that it's nice that the thief won't be able to use the laptop, but that won't bring it back to you... and I don't think thieves will look for a smartcard slot before stealing 😎
 
On the back of my IBM ThinkPad X22, there's a place for a Kensington Lock. Most computers have a place for this, you probably just never noticed it before.

Linky

You attach one end to the laptop, and the other around a heavy desk or something. All computers in the school labs are tied down this way too, including keyboard, mouse, network, etc cables.
 
Originally posted by: aakermanAlso, what good is a smartcard? I can see that it's nice that the thief won't be able to use the laptop, but that won't bring it back to you... and I don't think thieves will look for a smartcard slot before stealing 😎
Click to expand...


At least for me, there is a lot of personal information on my computer (various numbers, emails, other documents) that I would not want anyone to be able to have access too. So yes, the hardware might be gone forever, but I would not have to cancel accounts etc for my personal and financial protection.
 
Originally posted by: aakerman
how do you lock your laptops?? I can't recall seeing any "attachment-places" for locks, on any laptop...
Click to expand...
There is usually a little notch called a "Kensington slot" or "Security slot" on your laptop where you can attach a cable lock or an alarm.
 
Nice post though,
I have never thought about that.......
The only thing that I concerned was the security "inside" the computer (ex. password, network architecture)
 
I hope I don't need to lock up my (potential) PowerBook when I get it. I work in a room that's already locked (more or less) 24 hours a day, with all kinds of servers and things. If it did get stolen, it would be because a student let someone in the room that shouldn't have been there, and they walked right past them with the laptop.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to buy one of those kensington locks, and just leave it wrapped around a desk leg or something and plug it in when I get here (while I'm plugging in power, Ethernet, USB, etc.)
 
Originally posted by: JackHawksmoor
I hope I don't need to lock up my (potential) PowerBook when I get it. I work in a room that's already locked (more or less) 24 hours a day, with all kinds of servers and things. If it did get stolen, it would be because a student let someone in the room that shouldn't have been there, and they walked right past them with the laptop.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to buy one of those kensington locks, and just leave it wrapped around a desk leg or something and plug it in when I get here (while I'm plugging in power, Ethernet, USB, etc.)
Click to expand...

I'd recommend getting a port replicator, because it makes plugging and unplugging the system MUCH easier. The port replicators usually have security locks on them, too.
 
Ugh, man that sucks. If my laptop were ever stolen I'd freak out big time. Mostly from the fact of it being stolen, but how much it cost me would be another major factor.
 
I used to always leave my laptop on desks, in unlocked classrooms, and sitting on the front seat of my parked car...

Never had a single problem in two years with theft. How was this possible?


I NEVER carried my laptop in a laptop bag.


My word of advice: Either get a backpack with a padded laptop compartment inside, (or) use a small "wetsuit" style case with a regular backpack.

People will never suspect you have a laptop inside of an old bookbag.

Hope this tip saves someone a major headache! 😀
 
I'd rank data backup just as important as physically protecting your laptop.

When I was at college, about 2 or 3 times a year someone would get their laptop stolen. About half the time, said laptop would contain the only copy of a PhD or Masters dissertation; work worth 10 times as much as the computer.
 
defintealy.. both are important...

i've had too many friends have their laptops, ps2's, other things stolen...

but even more than that

lock your doors!!!!!

sheesh..... dont leave the doors left cracked open if no one is in the common area/room

and jsut back up your documents onto a new cd-r once a month or so.... or just upload them to an email account/school server.....

and by george dont rely on floppies like so many students asking support about how to retreive a file from a corrupt floppy
 
I had purchased a lock for the T40 I got last week. Then I realized that it's pretty easy to break the lock on it. I must not have been doing something right....-
 
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