The increased portability and compactness of mobile PCs means there’s a slightly greater risk of them getting lost or stolen. Small and ultra-slim makes for a potentially easy pick up for unscrupulous malfeasants, while the busy and often very hectic usage styles of many people lend themselves to moments of absent mindedness. Laptops are occasionally left behind at airports, coffee shops, meeting rooms and the like, which opens up the possibility of them falling into the wrong hands. .
We’re not trying to spread a panic here, the chances of this actually happening to you are quite slim so long as you take even the most basic precautions, and we’re certainly not saying the world’s full of people scheming to steal your PC: especially since technology is now more affordable than ever. However, even an innocently misplaced laptop can cause quite a considerable amount of hassle when trying to get it back, which is where Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops with Computrace comes in.
This is a piece of software that’s installed on your laptop, and once that’s done, it goes into persistent mode, so even wiping the hard drive won’t readily remove it. The software communicates with Absolute’s security centre at regular intervals via wi-fi, in effect reporting to their servers as to where your laptop is located. If you lose it, you simply contact the security centre and they can quickly begin the process of locating it using GPS or wireless. This is why it’s called LoJack, a shout-out to the world-famous LoJack for cars. Additionally, LoJack for Laptops allows users to remotely lock their portable PC once they realize it’s gone missing. For added security, removal and deletion of files is also possible. In more complicated cases, there’s a dedicated recovery team that can gather forensic evidence and other information should a PC prove more challenging to locate. They also co-operate with local law enforcement whenever necessary.
ASUSPRO Series laptops guard your data
LoJack for Laptops generally retails for USD39.99 and up (USD99.99 for the full package), but you’re in luck, because the good folks at ASUS are bundling this service with an increasing number of laptop models. For one, the ASUSPRO commercial laptop series has the feature built-in, as will the upcoming redesigned U Series laptops.
For added peace of mind, this kind of service certainly helps, even if the actual odds of having to use it are not that high. Let us know in the comments section what you think!