There are many paid and free services to track a lost smartphone with the help of built-in GPS. A laptop on the other hand usually does not come with a GPS tracking device and hence it can be difficult to trace one. To increase your chances of recovering a lost laptop, a company called Timeon Technologies has come up with a great tool called LockItTight. LockItTight is a free tool for Windows that lets you track your laptop by giving you precise location of your device and by monitoring what’s going on in your computer. Lets see how it works.
Installation and Configuration
First things first, you will have to make a free account with LockItTight. Head over to their homepage and create one by clicking the Free Signup! button. Now download the client software from LockItTight and install it on your system with administrative privileges. At the time of installation you will be asked to enter the username and password for your LockItTight account. Once the application installs successfully it’s time to configure it. Let me tell you that the Windows client does not come with any user interface and it’s nothing more than an icon on your taskbar with the sole task of monitoring your laptop. The entire configuration should be done on the server side instead. Open your device configuration page on the LockItTight site and click on settings button. On the device setting page you can enable or disable the various type of reports you wish to generate and click on Save to make the necessary changes permanent.
Keeping Track of Your Laptop
It will take some time for the tool to gather data from your laptop for the very first time. To see the report visit the device configuration page again and click on the necessary module. The several reports that can be generated are: Location You can locate your computer on the map from time to time. The application uses the IP address of the ISP or Wi-Fi hotspots nearby to keep the track of things.
Screen Captures
The application will capture the screen of your laptop and upload it to the server at regular intervals. This feature gives you an idea about what the computer has been used for recently.
Webcam Capturing
If your device has a webcam it’s an added advantage. You can get shots from your webcam and see with your own eyes who’s accessing your computer. Key Logging
It also keeps a track of all the key strokes made on your computer along with the application it was done for.
Clipboard
With this feature you can keep a log of the clipboard items (Text only) along with the applications. God forbid if your laptop gets stolen with LockItTight installed on it you can access the reports from any public computer on your LockItTight dashboard. If you wish to, you can even retrieve and delete files from your lost laptop.
Limitations
LockItTight is an amazing service that gives us a hope to get our laptop back if stolen. Though it tries its level best to provide a comprehensive tracking solution it does have some shortcomings.
The client tool does not come with a protective defense mechanism and thus can be killed using a task manager easily.If the thief never uses an internet connection on your device the application can do nothing.If he formats your computer it’s the end of the story for you.
LockItTight is a free service but comes with some caveats. For more features you can always buy the application. So make sure you keep a good eye on your laptop as there is no room for regrets later, and also use tools like LockItTight as additional precautionary measures.
