CompuTrace Personal

[Cricket]

My nephew asked me if installing CompuTrace Personal (Guaranteed Theft Recovery Service) on his laptop was worth the cost. I've never heard of this product before since I don't even own a laptop. Anyone know anything about this?

Cricket

[Statica]

I've seen those and this was my assessment -
Personally I would spend that money on more proactive laptop security than on that. Let's face it, if the laptop gets stolen, chances are going to be very slim that the laptop is going to be recovered. Most laptops that get stolen dont get plugged into the internet immediately.
Your nephew needs to assess what is more important to him, laptop recovery or unauthorized access. You will find that one cancels the other out. I don't know about his requirements but for me, I am paranoid about unauthorized access into my laptop. People booting it up while its on my desk or anything low brow. So I put in a BIOS password, and I undoubtedly have an XP login password. Consider this - the laptop gets stolen, chances are extremely slim that the thief is going to want to plug it into the internet at first boot. So the person is going to go through the following:
a) a BIOS password
Should s/he manage to break through that ..
b) An XP password.
If the thief has gone through both of them, then I'm not dealing with a hobbyist who just managed to get my machine. Which means that the contents of my drive are going to be wiped out before it hits ebay.

If laptop recovery is the only concern, even then a $1000 for the laptop is kinda paltry - that is if they actually hand the cheque out.

I would recommend using the $50/yr on something more proactive, like a visible theft deterrent - chain with motion sensor alarm .. and a solid warranty that covers accidental damage like spills etc.
Incidentally there are others, that pretty much accomplish the same thing at lower costs - for example: http://www.tometasoftware.com/products_ssnet.asp wants to send emails when the laptop is plugged in. But if you are sold on the idea of the software, then CompuTrace is probably the most recognizable one.

[Cricket]

Thanks for the info Statica. I'll pass the info on to my nephew.

Cricket