For any laptop and computer user who owns a stolen or lost laptop, the question “Can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number?” is an essential one. The answer is yes, and it is also done with ease by following some instructions and simple steps to track the stolen laptop’s serial number.
With the wide range of different varieties of laptops on the market, it’s understandable why you might wonder whether this question could apply to your computer. However, the truth is that serial numbers are used to track stolen laptops, especially as technology advances and more things become digital.
Tracking a stolen laptop is no different than monitoring anything else. If you own an iPhone or one of the thousands of smartphones on the market today, knowing how to track it is easy.
You must look closely at its Serial Number and immediately search the Internet for a solution.
How can you track a stolen laptop by serial number:
Unplug your laptop from power.
Look at your laptop’s bottom, which connects to the base unit. A sticker or barcode should be on this area showing your machine’s serial number.
If you don’t see it, try looking around in different spots until you can’t find it. The numeric code of your laptop can tell you a lot about your laptop’s history, including:
- When was it made?
- From where does it come?
- How old is it?
- What is its warranty?
The Truth Behind The Laptop Serial Number:
A serial number is a numeric code that is a unique identifying mark assigned to some physical objects, such as personal computers, that allows the separation, identification, and tracing of those objects.
This numeric code runs along the bottom of all manufactured electronic devices. A serial number is found on a laptop or any computing device a company has made.
The company helps them identify the device and keep track of it. If a computer or any computing device is stolen, its owner can trace it easily by contacting the company that made this computer.
They will give you their records to establish connections with other devices and provide information about how they are sold.
Also Read: The Best Laptop Accessories for Travel
The serial number is usually on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop. It is where you need to be careful when removing it so that you don’t damage any other parts of the computer.
If someone snatched your laptop, then you can use this number to track it down and get it back because a stolen laptop will have the same serial number as your own.
Besides answering the main query can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number? you’ll also learn a lot of technical information in this article that is genuinely mentioned below.
How to locate a stolen laptop from serial number?
Stolen laptops are a common problem for businesses and schools. Many people believe that the best way to protect your valuable laptop from theft is by using hard drive encryption software.
This article will discuss the different ways to track your stolen laptop, including various apps and techniques to help you recover your data if your laptop gets stolen.
There are several steps to take when your laptop is lost or stolen.
- The first step is to contact the police and file a report. It will help law enforcement track down the perpetrator if they have not already been arrested.
- Once the incident has been reported, log into the laptop and remove personal information such as credit card numbers and passwords.
- If you cannot access the computer yourself due to an attacker having removed it from its location, call in a locksmith to open it for you.
- To keep track of your stolen laptop, take a photo of it with your phone before removing any personal information.
- The image is used as proof if needed in court proceedings or for filing insurance claims later on.
- You should also note down any serial number on the laptop side as soon as possible so that when you call in an expert, they can retrieve this information from your computer without having to take anything apart from themselves first.
While researching information on can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number? You may be discovering the advantages and disadvantages for each method.
While some methods are more reliable than others, all will be able to help you recover your computer if it is still within your control.
Here are some of the most beneficial ways to track your stolen laptop;
- As mentioned above, by using your laptop’s serial number.
- Trace your laptop With the help of the tracking software already installed on your computer.
- Using default features, i.e., “Find my device,”
- You can track your laptop With the help of a Mac or the IP address of your computer.
The first method of tracking your laptop using a serial number is briefly explained above. Now we have to discuss the other three plans;
Use of tracking software that is already installed;
Under the circumstances, implementing the necessary tracking software would be the ideal solution to find your laptop.
Without it, identifying the culprit or recovering your laptop is near impossible. Now that you have installed and initialized the software, merely log into its account via phone to track your device’s movements.
To ensure the privacy and safety of your data, you must install this software in your laptop as soon as possible.
But if they theive having some knowledge of IT and know how to uninstall software will make sure they’re not at risk.
Track your laptop by using your IP address:
To track your laptop, you need to know the IP address of your computer. It is a unique number that identifies the computer, so you can use it to find it when it gets lost or stolen.
It is a number assigned to each device on a network, such as the Internet. Your IP address provides information about where you are located and what resources you’re accessing.
You can also track the IP address of your laptop by using.
- Dropbox
- Find My Device.
Track your laptop by using Dropbox:
If you are a Dropbox user and have noticed that the account has been accessed from IP address X, you can quickly check out that device’s profile by following these few simple steps.
- The first thing to do is log in to your Dropbox account. Go to the website or use the app and log in.
- Go straight down into the “Settings” and then into the “Security.”
- Take down your mouse cursor, and there you’ll see all the required details, i.e., log-in sessions, which device accessed your account and laptops, when, etc.
- Check out the recent activity, click on the device, and you’ll quickly get that device’s IP address.
- Check the latest activities and copy the IP address.
- Then, report it to the law administrative authorities.
Track your laptop by using Gmail:
Identifying the unique IP address used to access a Gmail account has become essential to investigating identity theft.
This article’s discussion will show you how to identify the IP address used to access a specific Gmail account.
Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be on your way to accessing this information right away.
- You can find your IP address by first logging into your Gmail account.
- Then scroll down the cursor to the bottom of the page and click on “details” under the “last account activity” in the right corner.
- Another window will open that shows all your recent activity and the IP address of any devices that accessed your account.
- Here, you can easily find the IP address of your device.
The ongoing article is surely of your great interest as it covers vast methods regarding can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number?
Track your laptop by using Facebook:
Facebook is an excellent app for keeping in touch with mates and friends, family, and colleagues. It’s also a perfect way to stay connected with your business.
Using Facebook as a way to track your laptop is easy. If you have an existing Facebook account,
Here’s how to track your laptop using Facebook:
1. Open Facebook to log into your FB account.
2. press the button on the down arrow next to “Account Settings” and select “Security,” then click “Edit.”
3. step by step, Scroll through the list of options until you find “Owner History,” then click on it and enter your password for this feature to work correctly (it won’t work if the password field isn’t filled out).
4. You’ll find a list of devices that have been located by Facebook’s location service in the past 24 hours.
These include computers with Wi-Fi enabled, mobile phones with GPS enabled, tablets with GPS enabled, and cameras with GPS enabled.
Track your laptop by using “Find My Device”
The “Find My Device” feature is a great way to help you answer can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number.
It is used when the information has been accidentally deleted from the computer or if the laptop has been damaged.
“Find My Device” has been designed to make it. You can also remotely lock, erase or factory reset the phone if it’s lost or stolen.
- To begin, sign in to your Microsoft account.
- After this, go to the “Windows Settings” menu.
- Click on “Update & Security.”
- Click on “Find my device” and then enable it by turning on the option in the window that appears.
- Once you’ve done that, clicking on the “Find” button will allow you to locate your lost or stolen device by clicking on it.
How to track a stolen HP laptop with a serial number?
A stolen HP laptop without a serial number is often harder to track. The reason is that people don’t remember their device serial code as more as serial numbers are usually not shown on laptops and are only included in the computer when it is initially purchased.
It means that the serial number is anywhere from the manufacturing site to the shipping depot, depending on where it’s been sold, and then it is hidden somewhere where you wouldn’t find it.
Even if you know the laptop’s serial number, locating it can be challenging. It is where tracking software can help.
It matches details in the database with your information to find the possible location of your laptop.
Is it easy to Track a brand new stolen hp laptop?
The IP address of your device can also help to find out your stolen laptop but unfortunately. If you have a brand new HP laptop and it’s been stolen, there’s not much you can do to recover the device.
You’ve already lost any chance of recovering the data on the hard drive and any other information stored on the computer.
If you had registered the laptop, there might have been hoping that the computer would be returned to you.
If you had installed a tracking app or device like the Lo-Jack GPS locator, there would have been a little more hope that the laptop would be returned to you.
How to track a stolen Lenovo laptop with a serial number?
In the past, this has meant that users had to call their local police department to file a report. Now, with Lost & Found, they can contact Absolute Software and submit a claim.
Once submitted, Absolute will use the BIOS embedded tracking technology to locate the device and send it back to the user. You can also track your stolen laptop by using Adeona.
The service requires users to create an account at Adeona, where they will be able to upload pictures of their lost or stolen ThinkPad.
After that, they’ll receive an email from Adeona laptop tracking that will ask them to send photos of their laptop along with proof of ownership, such as receipts or license keys.
If your computer has a warranty yet and the laptop is returned in good condition, Lenovo will replace it with a new one or offer credit toward used models on its website.
Possibly you’ve always had a curiosity about can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number, but you have never known the fact that Lenovo is offering a replacement for your stolen laptop.
How to track a stolen Dell laptop with a serial number?
It can be pretty frustrating if you have lost a laptop you have used for many years. You might even feel helpless and want to throw the computer out of your house.
If it contained personal information and was stolen from an office, then not only are you going through a lot of heartaches but also some legal issues.
It is essential to track the laptop down to prevent identity theft and other problems arising from its loss. But how to track a stolen DELL laptop with a serial number?
Here is the most straightforward detailed answer to all these horrible questions mentioned below;
Step 1: Go to Dell’s website and register your product, including the serial number. It will allow you to retrieve information about your computer should it be lost or stolen.
Step 2: If you don’t have that serial number, you can contact the police department and ask for any records of serial numbers for stolen laptops in their area.
And thirdly, you can follow the method to find out the last location of your laptop.
- To turn on-location services for your device.
- go to Settings > Privacy > Location.
- Toggle on Location access for this device.
- Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Find my device > Change.
- Under Save, my device’s location periodically, toggle the switch on.
- You can find the last location on the Microsoft Account page and the Find My Device tab map.
TO Sum Up:
Thus, after the brief description, the answer to can a stolen laptop be tracked with a serial number is “yes,” at least theoretically. However, there are certain essential caveats to consider and many technological hurdles that need to be overcome to take this a step further.
Now we’re not saying it’s impossible to track down a stolen laptop, and recovering your property won’t be as easy as you think.
To conclude, we can say that a serial number should be enough to track down a laptop if it ever goes missing, but it’s probably not an effective way to keep your information as safe as possible.
Serial numbers are helpful when there’s one central database to check, but most police departments don’t have time to look up every stolen laptop and computer in the city.
And even if they find out a laptop then, there’s still no guarantee that the right computer is being tracked.
In the end, you’ll probably be better off ignoring the serial number and safeguarding your data in other ways that are briefly discussed in this article.
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