LoJack?

How good is it? I'm considering buying the 3-year license.

 

It is pretty good, at least that is what I thought of it when reviewing it. My subscription ran out recently, and I haven't had the chance to renew it but I plan to.

My only comment: do not get the 3-year license. Get a one-year every year.

Why?

Because LoJack's license is only good for one recovery. If someone steals your PC in the first year, you've wasted two years of the license.

At least that is my opinion.

 

I am with ya on the one year thing Greg. I have used LoJack for almost a year now and it is really comforting and a nice product. I highly recommend it.

But, also if you go one year, when your subscription is near it's end LoJack (at least they just did for me) will send you a coupon for a little bit off to subscribe for another year, and a free upgrade to their premium package! ^-^

NOTE: So you may want to wait until you get that Greg before you renew.

 

Greg said hes subscription already ran out.... so i guess no freebies for him?

and as greg mentioned in his review, its kinda works only for criminals not looking for lojack...... in the bios for my xps m1330 (lojack able to be installed in bios), theres a setting for whether to allow Absolute Software to do something in the bios(cant remember the exact wording), and if u have lojack installed, u cannot change that setting for Absolute Software, but u can see the setting itself.....

 

you know there is also the don't be an idiot and lock up your notebook option. i think a lock is cheaper then lojack.

but it looks like a good service, i'm just too cheap to buy it.

 

You're not really taking yours anywhere then are you?? >.< lol

 

99% of thieves are not professionals. LoJack is only going to be defeated by a pro laptop thief if you ask me.

For the cost, it is definitely worth it.

 

I have lojack on my 1530....and personally am very glad to have...So I would say it's worth it for yah


Cin

 

i can lock mine wherever i go, locks are portable nowadays you know.

 

heres my answer to your lock

 

I'm thinking about just a big "protected by lojack" sticker on my next lappy instead of actually getting the service...

 

HAHAHA. That might work, but it'll definitely tip off the ones who are smart enough to know what to look for. XD lol

 

Yeah, at the time I was up for renewal I was in the middle of a lot of computer changes and did not want to renew yet. I plan to buy a new subscription in a few weeks to cover the upcoming academic year.

 

lojack can only install to a select few bios right?
how do you find out if your laptop has a suported bios?

 

http://www.absolute.com/products-bios-enabled-computers.asp

if its not bios supported, lojack would install in ur hard drive and run silently from ur hard drive and still work, but wiping the hard drive or replacing it would render lojack useless

lojack in bios = there unless u fry the motherboard and replace it.... wiping hard drive or changing hard drive wont affect lojack

 

I administer a network for a major accounting firm that uses CompuTrace (the program everyone refers to as LoJack for laptops). It's an excellent tool as an administrator since it allows you to view every piece of software installed on the laptop, each individual time it calls in to report it's status and history, and any changes made to the machine of note.

For a user what it means is every time the laptop connects to the internet, it sends a 2k packet of data announcing the IP, Host, System Information changed from last call in. If the laptop is ever stolen (and we have had quite a few we have had to report over the past 3 years), Absolute monitors the call in's to see if the laptop makes a call in after the reported date of theft. If a call in is made the local police are contacted with the information and they are authorized to contact the ISP and recover the hardware.

We HAVE had machines recovered, but it has been maybe 1 out of 10. Of course if the machine ends up overseas, they will not pursue (as we found out when a machine ended up in Afghanistan...)

 

hmm....that is a nice unbiased explanation. I'm repping you for it.

 

What are the tell-tale signs of lojack? Pardon my ignorance.

 

Here is my answer to your LoJack:

 

nope, not going to work....

 

So the version you have is hardware based, or is it just a modified version of the BIOS when you installed it?

 

LoJack is installed on your BIOS. After you use the CD to install the software, it will automatically remove itself from the hard drive and will be remained in your BIOS.

 

I think it's safe to say that almost all laptops in production now have a BIOS that can accept CompuTrace (Absolute/LoJack). Since many of these laptops do not allow you to flash the bios without logging into a verified instance of Windows, it makes defeating it that much harder for the every day crook.

One thing that needs clarification is the above statement from red. There is a version of the software that does leave a remnant on the hard drive to verify that someone didn't swap the drive to flash the bios. If that remnant is missing then it sends a flag event to Aboslute and requires you to use an assigned login to verify that you are authorized to possess the laptop. If the authentication fails then they will contact the person on file for that computer and verify if the machine is in their possession.

Really it's a pretty reliable system, which is why, for business at least, they guarantee the recovery of the machines, or they will pay for the machine.

 

ahh bummer, since im getting a sager notebook.
but is the notebook make important? isn't it the bios type that is important?
like im thinking...isnt there a chance that my sager notebook will have the same bios thats in one of those machines listed in that link?

 

dont think so....

u can check by going to bios and see whether they have any settings for lojack/absolute software

 

So what's stopping the thief from cutting internet and Updating/flashing BIOS?

Bottom line, ever since computrace allowed the service to be renamed to LOJACK (for laptop) to be synonymous with the hard-ware based LOJACK car system, it has been nothing but marketing.

Any thief with even the smallest computer knowledge would know to cut off internet.

 

Maybe so, but most thieves I think would sell it without turning it on, and then once sold your notebook would be reported to the LoJack system. Either way you get your laptop back! lol

 

well... maybe if you lose 10 laptops

 

It's rarely the Theif who gets caught with the laptop from my experience. It's the poor sucker he/she sold it to since you can wipe it and do installs w/o connecting to the internet. Out of all of the recovered laptops in my time (3), all of them were college students who had no direct relation to the accounting firm I work for.

Top level systems that work with Absolute in their development cannot be defeated since they will require an administrative password to flash the BIOS that cannot be reset with CMOS.