questions → do you use tracking software like prey or hidden?

vote-for8vote-against

Do you use tracking software like Prey or Hidden?

Oct 16, 2012 12:49 AM

If so, do you like them? Any good or bad experiences with them?

Been toting my laptop around more lately, was thinking of trying Prey b/c it's free.

brandie346 brandie346

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vote-for3vote-against

With names like those, I'm not sure if I want to. What is their purpose?

jsimsace jsimsace
vote-for1vote-against

If you computer (or phone) gets stolen, you file a 'report' on the website and the software can use GPS/WiFi to help you find it, snap pics of the thief, stuff like that.

brandie346 brandie346
vote-for2vote-against

i use prey. no complaints. it (unfortunately) doesn't function like a rootkit though, so it's easy to find and uninstall if the thief successfully logs on to the system.

also know that if the system is password protected and he/she formats the machine it's a lost cause.

if it's pw protected and they turn it on and fiddle with the logon screen for a while, the OS still has to find and connect to a WAP before it will upload anything; and that'll only happen if you've connected to a WAP of the same SSID previously.

best case scenario: machine with guest account (risky) is stolen and they logon using that and you obtain reports that way.

this kind of software sounds good on the surface but there are a lot of technical restrictions that prevent them from simply providing you a report containing your stolen hardware's location when you prompt it to do so.

pinchecat pinchecat
vote-for-1vote-against

I use Qustodio. Free, light weight and easy to configure, it has certain features that even beat the paid apps. You can Google for it.

markmiller77e markmiller77e
vote-for1vote-against

@markmiller77e: you seem to be doing quite a bit of pro-bono marketing for that program on a number of websites. i don't suppose you have anything to do with it, do you? nah....of course not.

pinchecat pinchecat

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