My Dad had a laptop computer at his office. A while ago somebody stole it. If the person that stole it goes online, can we find out where it is?

First of all - what data was on there, and did your dad have any hard drive password set or encryption? Secondly was it a company-owned laptop or a personal one?

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This computer didn't have any passwords on it.
No personal info.
Dad would bring it back and forth from work and home.
He mainly used it for checking e-mail and typing articles for the newspaper.

Hmm...generally there really isn't much that can be done regarding locating the laptop--likely as soon as the person who stole it got it home, they wiped the drive--so pretty much any of the identifying info is gone (hopefully they didn't run any "combing" programs to scan for and locate personal information on the computer--which could have been saved in the cookies if your dad used the laptop at any time to pay bills online, make purchases, check account balances, etc.). So just because he didn't store his personal info on the computer, it could have been there in the cookies or temporary internet files without him knowing.

First, I would recommend that your dad call his credit card companies and put his accounts on a watch list (my credit card company calls it a yellow-flag list), to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Also, he should notify his bank(s) as well.

As for getting the laptop back, likely it's gone for good. Did he keep a record of the product serial number? That might be helpful if the laptop is found as stolen property somewhere locally--that way he can claim it back. But as for locating it, there isn't much you can do in any practical sense.

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Before rushing out and getting a new one, your dad should check if the company he works for loans out laptops for employees to use for working at home, or if your home insurance policy covers it [some do here in the UK]

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Ash
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