any of you knows it?

I knows I hate it when they steal cashes.  

I am little confused by the wording in your post, are you saying you already had a tracing program on the computer, or are you asking if such a program exists?

Originally posted by Tidgxor I am little confused by the wording in your post, are you saying you already had a tracing program on the computer, or are you asking if such a program exists?

EdH63,

As suggested, a Google search will probably yield the best results. I can say though, that I have worked with zTrace in the past ( http://www.ztrace.com/zTraceGold.asp ) though it was in a laboratory environment. I've also used some software from Absolute ( www.absolute.com/en/ ), though that was also in a controlled test. I wasn't really working first hand with them, just observing them being used. As such, I can't really recommend one or the other, or either for that matter, its just a starting point for you.

Also, there's Adeona http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/, which is supposed to be free and open source, I just recently heard of it, so I can't vouch for anything on it.

Those are just some suggestions, there might be far better things out there, but these should get you started.

Ah, see that's the reason I refrained from fully endorsing either of them, they worked in a controlled setting, where we were specifically testing them. However, I don't know how well they would work in a "real-world" situation, as they required the PC to actually connect to the net. In Windows, since the web drivers load before you even log on, the laptops still sent the information while the person was blocked at the password screen. For other OS, I'm not sure how exactly that would work, as I'm not as up on Linux, etc. as I used to be. However, if the computer was taken by someone with some know how, I don't think those programs would have been that great, as they can easily be disabled through some service tweaks. I think they were primarily designed around the idea that someone who knew nothing about computers would steal the laptop itself and just try to log on. Kind of like those people who steal a cell phone, then proceed to use it .

I'm not sure how the open-source option works, though I think I remember seeing that it was more hardware based, sort of like a quasi lo-jack sort of deal. There's probably more "industry" related programs that are much better than the ones being sold on the net for 1 easy payment of 19.95 though.

EDIT: I just did some looking around, it looks like Absolute (Makers of Lojack) have made some substantial improvements to their software since I last saw it, so it may be worth looking into.


Edited by Tidgxor - 18 Nov 2010 at 10:37pm

That reminds me of that device I saw on the Discovery Channel (as well as online) awhile back. The anti-carjacker flamethrower. If someone tried to break into your car, a massive ball of fire would shoot out both sides, and I do mean massive, lol. I think it was called "Blaster" or something.

Maybe not in the US, but I think you might be able to market your idea for explosive laptops elsewhere Perhaps the Military? A good backup weapon I think.