How to Track Your Lost Laptop
No matter how much you care for your laptop, sometimes the worst happens, and you misplace it somehow. Or even worse, it could get stolen, and that could feel like the world is coming to an end. Aside from a phone, having a PC is the next thing to storing all your data in one place.
While losing your laptop might be tragic, there could still be a way around it. Apple and Microsoft have features in their OS that can make you get your computer back. There is no hundred per cent certainty, but it is worth trying, of course.
Apart from protecting your laptop with a password, it would be best if you make use of the in-built tracking tools provided by Apple or Windows. These features are easy and quick to enable and ensure that you efficiently track your misplaced or stolen device.
Although these ideas of getting your stolen or misplaced laptop back are worth trying, you should involve the authorities instead of taking the law into your hands. As it is safer, the services of a professional are more reliable as they can access places civilians cannot.
Find My Device
This feature was introduced in Windows 10 in 2015 by Microsoft. Just like the name implies, it is a reliable way to get the estimated place your laptop could be. Although it is usually turned off, if you are lucky enough to enable the Find my device feature before the disappearance of your computer, only a few steps are required for your to get an opportunity to locate it back.
You can go to the Microsoft website, log into your account and afterwards, be shown a list of different devices you have under a Microsoft account, search for the main one you are looking for and click the find my device option next to it.
Microsoft will then search for the laptop and give you an approximate location of where it could be. This feature only works if the device is currently online. You also get to use an option of clicking the lock option to secure your missing PC remotely.
Find My Mac
This feature works if you have a MacBook Pro, MacBook, or MacBook Air. It is called find my mac because it mainly finds a missing MacBook. You must have enabled it before the misplacement of your laptop; this way, you can lock your device online, track it down or even send a warning to whoever is currently with the computer.
Dropbox or Gmail
You can use your Gmail or dropbox to find your missing MacBook's IP address, especially if you do not have to Find My Device or Find My Mac enabled on your laptop. Using your Gmail or dropbox, you can track the IP address of your missing laptop, and you should locate it if it is currently online. This may not give you an actual location, but you will know an approximate area of where it could be.
Using your Gmail account, you will log into the web browser and keep scrolling until you get to the lower right corner to find the details option. By clicking this, you will find every device that has accessed your Gmail account in a new window. Go to the one you suspect to be your missing PC, click the show details and note down the IP address that you can hand over to the authorities. There is also information like this that applies to dropbox. Go to the top right corner, click on the account icon, and select Settings in the web version.
Afterwards, you go to the security in settings and then scroll to the web browser section to check for the most recent activity in the column of the missing device.
Extra Protection and Tracking Apps
The default security features of the macOS and Windows is an easy and quick way to track your missing Pc. However, they do not come with added security features. To get extra protection on your laptop, you need to use added protections and enhanced software that focuses on tracking your device.
You can use several options to give your laptop added security, such as Hidden and PreyProject's Prey. These apps can help you quickly get a location for your missing device. All you need to do is add a list of devices you want to track to promptly get a hold of it when you lose the device. It is functional in different ways, it sets the alarm for you to find it quicker, and it also retrieves your data or clears it—if that becomes necessary.
How to create a strong password
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
“Be sure to use a strong password” is a bit of advice given every time one creates an account online. Receiving such information indicates the importance of using an easily remembered but hard to decipher password. Be sure to protect your data since it became most valuable resource. You may want to use a password manager as you can generate passwords easily using them, and they can store your password. But even if you use a password manager, you’ll still need to put the password together. To create a strong password is not mathematics. Here’s how to go about it and, most importantly, how to keep it in mind.
Creating a secure but reliable password
Make use of a password manager
With the numerous numbers of web accounts available to everyone, nobody can own multiple accounts without having to duplicate passwords or work around the same password. This is where you make use of a password manager, as it keeps your password on a lock, so in case you forget, you can gain access to the website. There are numerous password managers available to use. You can surf the internet and get any suitable to your taste.
There are lots of features you can enjoy while using the password manager. Remember, the password manager was suggested as an attempt to make managing the passwords to your numerous accounts easy. If you have no use for it, you can skip.
Features of a typically strong password
According to the typical password advice, a strong password must;
1. Have 12 characters minimum
When choosing your passwords, you need to select one that’s long enough to hit the minimum mark. Though not all minimums are 12 whatever minima is set, your password must reach and cross the mark.
2. Includes Numbers, Symbols, Capital Letters, and Lower-Case Letters
You need to add numbers, symbols, capital letters, and lower-case letters to your password to make it unique and harder to crack.
3. Don’t make use of dictionary words or a combination of dictionary words
Do not use dictionary words or a combination as that’s too obvious and can easily be deciphered. Any word on its own is a red flag, and a combination of two or more words is also wrong, especially if they’re predictable.
4. Do not use obvious substitutes
Making use of conventional alternatives of words and numbers can easily be cracked. That’s a huge red flag, so be wary.
The best way to create a password is to use a mix of words, numbers, symbols, and lower- and upper-case letters, E.g., BigBoi123! Though it’s a mixture of two words, they’re highly decipherable because of the position of the words and numbers and symbols.
Apart from this method, there are other tricks to creating a strong password; they’re known as the Passphrase/Diceware method. This method speaks of choosing random words and mixing them to create a passphrase. What makes this style of password durable is the choice of words and the length of the phrases.
You’re free to choose any words, but remember, the words have to be random, so they don’t make sense on their own or mixed.