Track down your stolen laptop – Prey

My computer just disappeared! What should I do now?

Holy shmoly! You should immediately tell Prey so that you start getting the reports. This is done either by marking your device as missing in the control panel, or by deleting the generated URL by hand, in case you%u2019re using Prey in standalone mode.

My computer was stolen but Prey wasn%u2019t installed on it. Is there something I can do?

Not much, since you must install Prey before the actual theft takes place. If Prey isn%u2019t installed (or if it wasn%u2019t correctly set up) there%u2019s no way we can track your device to see where it is. Sorry!

However, in the future we plan to create a lost&found database, so that people have a place for reporting found devices. However we still need to figure out a good claiming method for the system to actually work. If you have any ideas or want to help in this item please contact us.

Now, if you have recovered a computer please let us know so we can start building this database in order to publish it later.

What about my privacy? What do you guys do with my data?

Nothing %u2014 trust us. And even if you don%u2019t, you can check the source code and make sure that Prey is doing nothing weird in your computer. The info is gathered and the report gets sent directly to its destination.

Are you aware of the implications of what you%u2019re doing?? Hehe, just kidding!

If you%u2019re using Windows, just run the uninstaller from the Start menu. It removes every single trace of Prey in your system, so don%u2019t worry about stuff lying around (we worry just as you do).

If you%u2019re using Ubuntu, open the package manager (Synaptic) and mark %u201Cprey%u201D for removal from the installed package list. Then click on Apply and watch it fade away.

If you%u2019re a Mac or Fedora/SUSE/Arch/etc user, you need to remove the folder where Prey was installed (by default /usr/share/prey) and additionally the respective crontab line for the user who runs Prey, which should be root. You can do so in the terminal (remember the dollar sign is used just for reference):

$ sudo rm -Rf /usr/share/prey
$ (sudo crontab -l | grep -v prey) | sudo crontab -

I have another question/idea!

Excellent! Please use the suggestion form by clicking on the button to your right (It%u2019s currently in spanish but it%u2019s quite straightforward to use).

via preyproject.com

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