Stolen Laptop vs Windows LogIn

[jPaulB]

Hello everybody,

I had a new laptop stolen tonight, while sitting at a counter. I had transferred most of my programs and data to this new computer. The O/S is Windows-7 64bit

Access to the programs and data visible on the desktop is proteced only by the Windows login password window.

Any advise as to how "protective" this first layer is??

Many thanks,

Paul

 

[Solarstarshines]

well you might have locked it for someone who doesnt know any better but any smart thief that knows his business with computers laptops or desktops hand held etc would reformat the drive and put his own version to the lappy

But that is only suggesting the person who took it knows what they are doing

 

[TVeblen]

Unfortunately, not very.
It's like having your front door locked. It will stop the novice but not the pro.

If you have sensitive personal info on the laptop you should take steps now to protect your identity and your accounts.

A long shot: Google : "Access webcam remotely" and navigate towards tech and gov't sites.

 

[jPaulB]

Thanks Guys,
I'm not woried about someone who would reformat the drive and replace with whatever O/S the $%$# would choose.
I am worried about data files contained in the HDD. If the Windows-7 "Log-In" can be bypassed and then access to say Microsoft Money then I would have a problem. Depends on how easy it is to get right to the data.
Thanks anyway... I'll keep changing passwords and hope for the best

Paul

 

[FliGi7]

If they have physical access to the laptop, it's trivial to change the password (or erase it) and log in to it. The only thing you can do is hope that they don't know how to do that.

 

[wds7]

Thanks Guys,
I'm not woried about someone who would reformat the drive and replace with whatever O/S the $%$# would choose.
I am worried about data files contained in the HDD. If the Windows-7 "Log-In" can be bypassed and then access to say Microsoft Money then I would have a problem. Depends on how easy it is to get right to the data.
Thanks anyway... I'll keep changing passwords and hope for the best

Paul

Next time around ..You better off getting Ultimate Version that comes with BitLocker
will be safer .

 

[martin123]

Time to change any account passwords that you can think of also emails related to any accounts as im afraid i dont agree with the posts above.

Cut it short any one can google up the right tool to unlock your whole laptop trust me its out there and everywhere

As for personel data such as credit cards details and other stuff i would report your card/s stolen that way they cant be used online yes its a pain but a pain is better than your credit geting smashed online.

Not wanting to say haha tough luck but it might be wise to keep all important data on a usb stick never on a machine just so if you ever lose your machine you keep your identity.

And i hopw they catch the dirdy mother?><^s they need there fingers choped off

http://tinyurl.com/2av9jnt

take a look at the link above but i get the feeling its no use to you now

 

[Lordbob75]

In the future, put a BIOS password on your laptop.
At the very least use the user password, but even better would be the supervisor password.

It is extremely hard to break a BIOS password as far as I know.

~Lordbob

 

[Solarstarshines]

In the future, put a BIOS password on your laptop.
At the very least use the user password, but even better would be the supervisor password.

It is extremely hard to break a BIOS password as far as I know.

~Lordbob

That would requiire full system erase and probally still wouldn't be able to use it cause the bios is locked pretty damn genius if you ask me LordBob is showing up again

 

[Lordbob75]

In the future, put a BIOS password on your laptop.
At the very least use the user password, but even better would be the supervisor password.

It is extremely hard to break a BIOS password as far as I know.

~Lordbob

That would requiire full system erase and probally still wouldn't be able to use it cause the bios is locked pretty damn genius if you ask me LordBob is showing up again

That's how I have mine locked up.

~Lordbob

 

[FliGi7]

In the future, put a BIOS password on your laptop.
At the very least use the user password, but even better would be the supervisor password.

It is extremely hard to break a BIOS password as far as I know.

~Lordbob

That would requiire full system erase and probally still wouldn't be able to use it cause the bios is locked pretty damn genius if you ask me LordBob is showing up again

The bios (password) can easily be reset by removing the battery from the motherboard for 20-30 minutes.

 

[Lordbob75]

In the future, put a BIOS password on your laptop.
At the very least use the user password, but even better would be the supervisor password.

It is extremely hard to break a BIOS password as far as I know.

~Lordbob

That would requiire full system erase and probally still wouldn't be able to use it cause the bios is locked pretty damn genius if you ask me LordBob is showing up again

The bios (password) can easily be reset by removing the battery from the motherboard for 20-30 minutes.

Even the administrator password? Aww... Shame.

~Lordbob

 

[martin123]

As i posted way back if you know what your looking for the software is out there that will bust open any bios passwords and windows.

In fact the software is a iso image so once its on disk and inserted in to the machine and its rebooted it will wipe ALL passwords.

So the real deal is there is no real type of security to keep any info safe if your machine is stolen.

Best way to keep all info safe is not to keep it on a machine keep it on a stick or sd card in your wallet

 

[FliGi7]

So the real deal is there is no real type of security to keep any info safe if your machine is stolen.

Actually, there is. You can TrueCrypt or PGP encrypt your entire drive so that you can't just use one of those bootable cd's that can change the SAM file. With a strong password, there is no way someone is going to break that encryption, which would only be possible via brute force. They'll have to wipe the whole disk to do anything useful with the machine.

 

[richnrockville]

Locking up the bios with a password for access is much better on a laptop

but on a desktop. all you have to do is to remove the battery or change a jumper and the bios is set back to the native state.
But on a laptop, you can remove the laptop battery but the motherboard battery is harder to find and remove
or reset the bios.

YMMV
Rich

 

[Solarstarshines]

Locking up the bios with a password for access is much better on a laptop

but on a desktop. all you have to do is to remove the battery or change a jumper and the bios is set back to the native state.
But on a laptop, you can remove the laptop battery but the motherboard battery is harder to find and remove
or reset the bios.

YMMV
Rich

my thoughts exactly must be really desperate to open it up to do all that