Stolen Laptop

miss.piggy

Hi all. Last night the office where I work was broken into and my laptop, two camera's and a hard drive were stolen. The laptop had a lot of my personal stuff on it (photographs etc. etc.). The laptop is password protected. I am devastated as alot of the stuff I had on it is irreplaceable. I have reported it to the guards. Does anyone know of anything I can do to increase my chances of getting it back?? I am willing to pay a reward for it's return and I have rang all the radio stations I can think of in Dublin to ask them to announce this on the radio but none will. Is there anything I can do???
Thanks for your help

miss.piggy

By the way - there is a standard password on it. Does this mean they will not be able to get into it to see any of my files etc?

docdolittle

I wouldn't say you'll get it back... But I hope you do What was the make/model of the laptop? I'd keep an eye out on the likes of gumtree.ie adverts, ebay and other ones to see if they are stupid enough to sell on those sites.

Unfortunately it's really easy to get past passwords on most computers and wipe them to try to sell them on...(I'm not liking that I actually know this )

knird evol

miss.piggy wrote: »

By the way - there is a standard password on it. Does this mean they will not be able to get into it to see any of my files etc?

login password is quite easily bypassed and all unencrypted files will then be availabe.

RoadKillTs

Does this mean they will not be able to get into it to see any of my files etc?

Do you know if the hard drive was encrypted? If it was then you should be ok but chances are it wasn't and so once they have physical access to the laptop they can access the files.

Sorry OP. Not a lot you can do.

monkeypants

Did you have any of your personal stuff backed up elsewhere?

miss.piggy

Oh god!! Stupidly I thought that once there was a password on it they at least wouldn't be able to look at my stuff!! That makes it even worse.
Am so devastated. There was stuff saved on that that means so so much to me

miss.piggy

Monkeypants - No stupidly I don't. I had a hard drive to back up files but I only used it to back up work stuff. Anyway it was also in the office, stupid I know, and they stole it too. I have worked in the same place for 2 years and it has never been broken into. Last night was one of the very rare occasions I didn't bring my lap top home with me. Am in bits

monkeypants

Would any of your pictures be on Facebook/Bebo/Flickr, that kind of thing?

Tough lesson to learn the hard way.

miss.piggy

Nope Am doing up notices at moment in MS Word and I am going to laminate them and put them on the gate into the site where the laptop was stolen from and at the shop down the road. Offering €500 with no questions asked for it's return.

thenightrider

Sorry but i dont think you will get it back.

About a year ago was renting a house before the house was broken in to robed loads of stuff rang the garda was told some one would come take finger prints etc as were they got in was a clear sign of fingerprints never took the fingerprints and what makes things worse a week later they came back with a transit but this time i was in i called the garda and locked a gate so they could not get away they were caghut van load of stolen gear from some were else.

In the end did not get any of my stuff back and that was with the guys caught :mad:

JonB

miss.piggy wrote: »

Nope Am doing up notices at moment in MS Word and I am going to laminate them and put them on the gate into the site where the laptop was stolen from and at the shop down the road. Offering €500 with no questions asked for it's return.

I hope you get your laptop and HDD back. Next time make sure you have a backup anything important you have on your computer. Good Luck!

Gadgetman496

I know it's of no use to you in this case, but have a look at THIS for future protection. I know it's not foolproof but it gives you some chance.

I can almost feel the empty feeling you must have in your stomach right now. You should post as much details of the laptop (as suggested above) you just never know who might spot it?

Best of luck.

-

miss.piggy

Thanks gadgetman. You're right about the empty feeling in my stomach
The laptop was a silver DELL Latitude D630 Intel Core Duo 2. Serial Number 8Y7KX3J

JonathanAnon

Just wondering lads, because it's a dell and they are tied in to the serial number... is there any possibility that when the computer is brought online that any of the update software may send the laptops serial current IP (and thus SIM or phone number) to Dell. I know this would happen if they actually logged in to the Dell site.

Do Dell have any procedure for keeping an eye out for a serial number, or would they help you with this if you rang them?

Domscard

Also, not a lot of use this time around, but a safe and cheap/free way to back up your photos is to use online storage. I use Google's Picasa to upload all of mine and it's great peace of mind to know that something as precious and irreplaceable as your photos can be made secure from any hard drive failure or thief. This overcomes the problem with storing your backups on a drive that can be stolen along with your PC.
You have my sympathy - I'd hate to lose my pictorial memories

kippy

Sorry to hear about this.
A real pain that they stole the backup hdd as well. I guess its a lesson for all of us.

Just a recomendation. If you would like to encrypt your HDD in future (just so no one can get at the data) or even just encrypt a few important files etc I would recommend truecrypt: http://www.truecrypt.org/ Excellent piece of software.
It wont stop your machine from being stolen but it will protect the data on it from being read.

miss.piggy

Thanks Jonathon - That would be great if they did - does anyone know??

JonathanAnon

miss.piggy wrote: »

Thanks Jonathon - That would be great if they did - does anyone know??

I dont want to build your hopes up Miss Piggy, it's still clutching at straws to be honest... but there is a) a pretty much 100% chance that the computer will be put on the Internet again and b) a fair chance that some of the preinstalled Dell software may contact the Dell site.....

Maybe ring Dell and explain the situation, and ask them for help ?... If they provided you with the IP address you could contact the Internet Service Provider that owns the IP range and ask them to help. It's a long shot but you have to exhaust all possibilities.

miss.piggy

Will the computer still show up as accessing the internet even if they replace the hard drive in it?
Thanks a million

kippy

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I dont want to build your hopes up Miss Piggy, it's still clutching at straws to be honest... but there is a) a pretty much 100% chance that the computer will be put on the Internet again and b) a fair chance that some of the preinstalled Dell software may contact the Dell site.....

Maybe ring Dell and explain the situation, and ask them for help ?... If they provided you with the IP address you could contact the Internet Service Provider that owns the IP range and ask them to help. It's a long shot but you have to exhaust all possibilities.

Extreme longshot and unless you had paid a premium to dell for this service when you bought the PC I doubt very much though could help......Lots of work/effort required from dell to do this.

miss.piggy

I rang Dell there. All they can do is log the laptop as stolen and then if someone rings up for support on it they can alert the guards. They told me to send them an email with the crime ref number etc etc.
I asked him about tracking it and he said I would have had to have bought and installed software for this. He also said that depending on what way the IP address is set up it can change every time the internet is accessed

Kinky Slinky

Report it to the guards and see what they can do , most criminals will wait about a month before they try and sell a computer online . There more than likely going to wipe the laptop clean along with the hard drives. Keep an eye out for bargain laptops that seem too good to be true on websites like gumtree etc.

miss.piggy

Yeah I have reported it to the guards now and sent an email to Dell with the crime number etc. In a way that is what I am worried about - that they will wipe everything. I am devastated at the amount of stuff I have lost that meant an awful lot to me :(

Kinky Slinky

Maybe you could try Microsoft they could probably help you and I'd say they would be pissed if they new someone was using windows without paying for it , If you can find it quick you can probably recover the files , I doubt the thief will respond to your flyers its seems a bit dodgy but you never know.

kippy

Kinky Slinky wrote: »

Maybe you could try Microsoft they could probably help you and I'd say they would be pissed if they new someone was using windows without paying for it , If you can find it quick you can probably recover the files , I doubt the thief will respond to your flyers its seems a bit dodgy but you never know.

Microsoft wont care..........
Someone did pay for it in their eyes (ie the OP)........

Your best chance of getting the machine back, not necessarily the data, is to keep an eye out on Donedeal, Adverts,Buy and sell, ebay however you'll be while looking.
I would advise you to move on, learn a few lessons (like I have from this thread).
Encrypt the items you dont want anyone accessing, us a harddrive stored ina different location for backup and if you are really worried, use that dell supplied kit to keep track of your machine should it get stolen (large cost)
Kippy

JonathanAnon

miss.piggy wrote: »

Will the computer still show up as accessing the internet even if they replace the hard drive in it?

If they replaced the hard drive, they would need to install Windows on it and get all the drivers. If they were taking this approach then they would probably format the hard drive and reinstall windows on it (as opposed to replacing the hard drive)... sorry.

Bob Z

gadgetman496 wrote: »

I know it's of no use to you in this case, but have a look at THIS for future protection. I know it's not foolproof but it gives you some chance.

I can almost feel the empty feeling you must have in your stomach right now. You should post as much details of the laptop (as suggested above) you just never know who might spot it?

Best of luck.

-

Do you use that? So you reckon its good? Might get it

miss.piggy

Well Guess What?!! Last night I got a phone call from some one who saw my ad offering a reward for the return of the laptop. He said his "mate" found it". I met him today, checked that it was ok and handed over the money! Don't feel great about giving him the money but I didn't want to start messing around when I had put up posters saying i'd give a reward. God knows what I'd get myself into!!!
Am so happy I have it back and have definitely learned a valuable lesson, although not a cheap one!!!
The only difference with the laptop is that when I turn it on it says the hard drive is password protected. The guy told me the password (0000) and this works but is there any way I can get rid of this as it is a bit of a pain?
Thanks everyone for their replies and good wishes!

Lab_Mouse

Glad to hear you got it back.To change your user password goto control panel->user accounts->and select change password.Im on win 7 but if i remember rightly its the same on xp/vista.

EDIT:you can also set a password in the bios.Press one of the function keys,normally f8 or f12 to get into the bios

JonB

miss.piggy wrote: »

Well Guess What?!! Last night I got a phone call from some one who saw my ad offering a reward for the return of the laptop. He said his "mate" found it". I met him today, checked that it was ok and handed over the money! Don't feel great about giving him the money but I didn't want to start messing around when I had put up posters saying i'd give a reward. God knows what I'd get myself into!!!
Am so happy I have it back and have definitely learned a valuable lesson, although not a cheap one!!!
The only difference with the laptop is that when I turn it on it says the hard drive is password protected. The guy told me the password (0000) and this works but is there any way I can get rid of this as it is a bit of a pain?
Thanks everyone for their replies and good wishes!

I would report the rest of the story to the Garda. It's suspicious how the hdd is protected and magically he knew the password. Not also that he says his mate found the laptop. Well then why did his "mate" not go and claim the reward for himself. I think he just use the term mate so he could be vague about details if you asked him about anything like where he found it and what not.
Happy for you that you got your laptop back.

damagegt

Iv had this happen to me and there's not much you can do.A good place to check is the nearest cash converters and local markets,i know its not much but dell and a few other company are offering a product called Lo-jack,its the same as the software they have in cars.If your laptop/computer is stolen you inform the company and they monitor the signal and as soon as the laptop/computer connects to the internet they get a signal.Its built into the bios so it cant be removed or detected by your average joe soap.

Gadgetman496

miss.piggy wrote: »

Well Guess What?!! Last night I got a phone call from some one who saw my ad offering a reward for the return of the laptop. He said his "mate" found it". I met him today, checked that it was ok and handed over the money! Don't feel great about giving him the money but I didn't want to start messing around when I had put up posters saying i'd give a reward. God knows what I'd get myself into!!!
Am so happy I have it back and have definitely learned a valuable lesson, although not a cheap one!!!
The only difference with the laptop is that when I turn it on it says the hard drive is password protected. The guy told me the password (0000) and this works but is there any way I can get rid of this as it is a bit of a pain?
Thanks everyone for their replies and good wishes!

I'm delighted you got it back but not that you had to do it the way you did.


They may have set the password through the BIOS so you can disable it by going here



1 Turn your computer on.

2 Press the appropriate key to access the BIOS at the system screen. Most systems use the F2 or the DEL key to access the BIOS. The correct key will be noted on the system screen. The system screen is displayed right before the operating system screen.


3 The BIOS screen will display. There are several screens within the BIOS. Use your arrow keys to display the Security screen.

You should see the option there to disable it.

Was all your stuff still on it?

miss.piggy

Thanks for the replies. I know it's totally dodgy!! But to be honest I'm just happy to have it back, am just going to forget about it now and learn my lesson for the future!

Gadgetman496

Bob Z wrote: »

Do you use that? So you reckon its good? Might get it

I have it on everything & it does work.

You would need to check with your local police though to see if they would assist in the event of a theft.

No ISP will divulge the location of an IP address to any Joe soap but they will give it to the police.

-

argosy2006

miss.piggy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I know it's totally dodgy!! But to be honest I'm just happy to have it back, am just going to forget about it now and learn my lesson for the future!

what case are u working on next Miss Piggy P.I

miss.piggy

Gadgetman - thanks. Yeah everything was still on it They hadn't got to the point of bypassing/disabling my log in password!

Gadgetman496

miss.piggy wrote: »

Gadgetman - thanks. Yeah everything was still on it They hadn't got to the point of bypassing/disabling my log in password!

Maybe you are best to move on now so & learn from it.

I really am pleased for you & remember, store all your backups off site in future.

Best of luck

-

JonathanAnon

checked that it was ok and handed over the money

How much is the going rate for theft/extortion these days, if you dont mind me asking?

Backup all your images to a DVD-R and put it somewhere very safe... you were very very lucky.

JonathanAnon

JonB wrote: »

I would report the rest of the story to the Garda. It's suspicious how the hdd is protected and magically he knew the password. Not also that he says his mate found the laptop. Well then why did his "mate" not go and claim the reward for himself.

tbh, I wouldnt do this. Unless you are blinded by some naive Utopian view of the Irish justice system, you will have realised the guards are useless. If you decide to shop this guy, he may decide to bite back. And guess what, he knows everything about your life from your laptop (addresses, relations, job etc etc).... With his knowledge he could cause a lot of trouble for you... And there's no guarantee that the guy hasnt taken a copy of your hard drive for this reason - I think I would if I was in his situation.

I think for your own safety, leave it. It's not exactly the most civic minded thing to do, but dont go bringing trouble on yourself.

Ghost Train

miss.piggy wrote: »

Gadgetman - thanks. Yeah everything was still on it They hadn't got to the point of bypassing/disabling my log in password!

It's pretty easy to get access to files even without the windows login passwords depending on settings, connecting hard drive to another PC or using bootcd, also possible to clone hard drive and then reset passwords leaving original drive unchanged. Don't know how likely this would be but I'd still be changing any of my important online passwords which may have been recovered from the laptop when it was out of your possession.

Best type of password to have for normal user is the hard drive password at boot

monkeypants

Were the Gardai called regarding the original theft? If so, then tell them about what's happened and see if they want to do anything about it.

Gadgetman496

monkeypants wrote: »

Were the Gardai called regarding the original theft?

Explained in the OP's opening post

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Kinky Slinky

Thats sounds awful dodgy that they would put a password on the bios, I would take all your media off the computer wipe it clean and do a fresh install of windows you wouldn't know what they have put on your computer. They could have a key logger on your computer , you should change all your login passwords for your various websites on a different computer ,you don't want to get stung twice

monkeypants

gadgetman496 wrote: »

Explained in the OP's opening post

-

Sorry, it was back from the 25th, so I didn't remember. Anyways, I'd update the guards. They'll probably do nothing.

I recommend wiping the PC and starting again. As mentioned by others, you've no idea what's on it now.

miss.piggy

Hi everyone

I tried to follow the instructions for getting rid of the password they put on it but it doesn't allow me to press F2 etc......

This is exactly what comes up when I turn on the computer -

hard disk #***5RE0WMNX-595B the system Primary HDD is protected by a password authentication system. You cannot access data on this hard drive without the correct password. Please type in the hard-drive password and press <Enter>


So when I press 0000 I can then log on as normal but I still want to get rid of this and know what the story is if anyone can help?

Thanks

Hank Scorpio

miss.piggy wrote: »

Hi everyone

I tried to follow the instructions for getting rid of the password they put on it but it doesn't allow me to press F2 etc......

This is exactly what comes up when I turn on the computer -

hard disk #***5RE0WMNX-595B the system Primary HDD is protected by a password authentication system. You cannot access data on this hard drive without the correct password. Please type in the hard-drive password and press <Enter>


So when I press 0000 I can then log on as normal but I still want to get rid of this and know what the story is if anyone can help?

Thanks

I deal with alot of D630s at work so hopefully i can help

Power on the laptop and hit the f12 key a few times

On the following screen select bios setup using the down arrow and hit enter

Bios (blue screen with settings) should appear

Scroll down to security and hit enter

Hit enter on unlock setup and enter 0000

Setup should then unlock

Scroll down to check system password/internal HDD pw etc and turn these settings to off

Let me know how you get on

Hank Scorpio

Btw its possible to have a different bios pw than the hard drive so hopefully so didnt use different ones

miss.piggy

Ok I'll try that and let you know,
Should I be worried as to why they have this on it?
I will save everything to an external hard drive today and change all my important on line passwords on another computer tomorrow

Gadgetman496

miss.piggy wrote: »

Ok I'll try that and let you know,
Should I be worried as to why they have this on it?
I will save everything to an external hard drive today and change all my important on line passwords on another computer tomorrow

Had the location you carried out the handover got CCTV?


-

Hank Scorpio

miss.piggy wrote: »

Ok I'll try that and let you know,
Should I be worried as to why they have this on it?
I will save everything to an external hard drive today and change all my important on line passwords on another computer tomorrow

No idea why they would put it on, all it does is provide password security to the data on your hard drive, theres still ways to access it though

Id definately report this to the guards btw, where i work was robbed like 2 months ago and 30 or so laptops stolen, all dells too

Luckily we use encryption