If you are a busy person who is always on the run, you might be an overly organized individual. This article will include carrying your laptop around everywhere so you can work during every spare minute you get. Read on to learn “how to track a stolen laptop with a serial number”.
However, we live in a cruel world where many people around us pay attention to our every detail. And while that can be flattering if you feel somewhere cares about you to that extent, it is also dangerous as the next person can read you like an open book. Now that someone knows you carry around your laptop everywhere you go, all he needs is a chance to divert your attention for just a fraction of a second to steal it.
Unfortunately, thefts like these happen every day. Digital electronics you saved months to buy get stolen in a heartbeat, and now you cannot perform most of your tasks. Fortunately, you can track your stolen laptop to get it back, by following the right steps.
First things first: Ensure the safety of your laptop
There are precautionary measures you must take right after you buy a laptop. Being inconsiderate of these few simple steps will cost you dearly if you ever lose your laptop. These include:
Immediately register your device with the manufacturer
As soon as you buy your laptop, I would advise you to register it with your manufacturer even before going home. This is because your laptop constantly transmits a series of signals and information to the manufacturer via the serial number. This ensures tracking your laptop using that serial number if you ever lose it. Although the location given by the manufacturers is not precise, it will give you a lead to where to look first.
Also, registering your laptop with the manufacturer can grant you a backup of your data, if any misfortune takes place.
Install a good tracking software
You can never be too safe with your personal devices, and a laptop is no exception. Even though laptops have built-in tracking devices, it is preferred to install highly-rated tracking software just to be extra safe. A few options may include:
- Hubstaff
- Avaza
- TimeCamp
- Clockify
- DeskTime
- TimeDoctor
All you have to do is register to these devices by following a few simple steps and Viola! You have full access to the location of your laptop wherever it goes.
Enable the “Find my Device” feature on your laptop
This is the built-in tracking software every laptop has. All you have to do is activate it. if you have a MacBook, this feature may be named “Find my Mac”.
You can activate this feature by going to the “update and security” settings and allowing your GPS to track the location of your laptop.
Now that we have established the basics of security for a laptop, let us see how to track your laptop using a serial number.
What is a Serial Number?
Before using a serial number to track your laptop, you must know what a serial number is. A serial number is a unique code that identifies your device from among others. Every laptop has its own serial number which should be either written down or memorized. The serial number is a combination of six sets of two figures each, which may or may not be
separated by a hyphen. This serial number is what will grant you the location of your laptop, so do consider it important.
How to check your serial number?
There are different ways to check your device’s serial number, but the best way is to navigate through your command prompt. Follow these steps:
- Open your command prompt by searching it in the windows option or by pressing the windows key and X button at the same time.
- On your command prompt, type ‘wmic bios get serialnumber’ and press enter.
- Take a picture of or write down the serial number displayed.
How to track a stolen laptop with a Serial Number
Now that you have your serial number with you, tracking your stolen laptop will be a lot easier. You can call the manufacturers with which you registered your laptop and explain the situation to them. They will ask for your serial number and grant you all the information you need.
The manufacturers use the constantly transmitted signals from your laptop to track it down. However, this may not be a very accurate location and you will have to do some further research. The reason for doing this is that even though the manufacturers may not provide the exact location of your stolen laptop right away, they will get a precise location as soon as the IP address of your laptop changes.
However, there is one thing you need to be aware of. A tracking device and serial number tracker only work when your laptop is on. Most trackers even require an active internet connection without which the tracking process becomes very hard.
Conclusion
First, I pray you never go through the misfortune of losing your laptop containing loads of important and personal files. But if you ever go through that, you need to remind yourself to breathe and not panic. Once you are stable, remember this article you read about tracking your stolen laptop, and we wish you find it soon.
