Dwight Silverman's Column in Today's Houston Chronicle - Prey

[LEO III]

Saw this article in today's paper:

Prey: Find out who’s got your missing computer, for free | TechBlog | a Chron.com blog

Not recommending or endorsing: Just posting for your info....

I'd be interested to know what some of our computer experts think of it.

[kenw]

(designed and built computers for 25 years...)

The comments are most telling. One that i and numerous others evidently picked up on is that it requires the bad guy to use your computer online and without reloading/reformatting. And since most thieves don't actually use the stolen computer, instead selling it; the person you are likely to catch isn't the actual thief. (that still gets you computer back, tho.)

And most savvy used-computer buyers are going to reload the OS or at least reformat the unit, and that will prevent Prey from having any value whatsoever.

In a nutshell, the only way it works is if the badguy keeps the unit and uses it online(assuming he/she could get past any passwords) themselves without reformatting or reloading the OS. To me, that's a slim chance. Is it worth it, to me? no. To others, it very well could be. It depends on your risk-averse-ness level.