http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/default.asp

Just wondering if anyone has used it and will it work if someone replaced the hdd or reformatted the hdd?

I haven’t used it but you can be sure it won’t work if the hard drive is wiped.  It’s not necessarily a bad product but it is just software.

I have emailed the company. Will post back after getting their response. I don’t see much use if it doesn’t work if someone formats/replaces the hdd.

Here’s their reply (got it within 15 mins of my email to them):

Hi Rahul,

On newer Dell, IBM/Lenovo, HP, Gateway laptops our software is incorporated into the BIOS so that even if the hard drive is replaced or reformatted our LoJack will be rebuilt and calling in as usual.  On older laptops that do not have the BIOS feature you would set the BIOS to boot only off the hard drive and then password protect it.  This way they have no way of formatting because they cannot start the computer from a floppy or a cd to perform the format.  This will prevent them from swapping the hard drive out as well because they won’t be able to boot with the new hard drive in place.

Regards,

Andrew Leung
Technical Support Representative
Computrace LoJack for laptops
Absolute Software Corporation
http://www.lojackforlaptops.com
 
Tel:  1-877-337-0337
Fax: 604-730-2621
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

now that’s interesting…  your computer data must be bling bling

Wow, I stand corrected.

That’s funny because I was looking into this for my U and my X. The only flaw is if you never put the notebook on the net it will never be located. I need to read over their insurance policy more before I make any decisions. My laptop was stolen freshman year of college thanks to my idiot roomate who went to the bathroom (one per floor) and left our dorm room wide open because he was too lazy to lock it. I came back from class and my notebook wasn’t on the desk…someone must have just walked by and scooped it up.

Erik

I’m sure the password can be erased by doing something similar to that for a desktop and then they can erase the drive or replace it. And, if they can’t erase the password, they won’t be able to get into XP which means the laptop can’t contact the lojack people.  :?

jso902, I do have some important data (which I backup often) on my computer, but it’s more the computer that’s bling bling :wink:

Security products aside, the best thing you can do is never let your laptop leave your sight, not for one minute.

I used to spend alot of time in a student lounge and when i needed to pee I unplugged my laptop and took it with me to the bathroom or wherever.  I just left the power cord and my booksack as I wasn’t worried about those things.

Or you can get a laptop security lock using which you tie your laptop to some immovable or heavy object. So that would atleast keep the people who simply walk away with laptops out.

My other concern is say if you leave your laptop in your house and someone breaks into your house and then steals it :cry:

[quote author=“Rahul”]Or you can get a laptop security lock using which you tie your laptop to some immovable or heavy object. So that would atleast keep the people who simply walk away with laptops out.

My other concern is say if you leave your laptop in your house and someone breaks into your house and then steals it :cry:

Try not to hang your hat on those locks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90hz3d8Tfi0

yup I had heard of that problem as well with kensington locks. The one I have is from targus (dunno if that suffers from the same problem). They also have one with an alarm (targus defcon).