Lost your laptop and don’t want it to be tracked down? This article shares an ultimate guide on how to make a stolen laptop untraceable.
Even if you feel like taking the best care of your device, your luck sometimes is struck by a disaster. In todays’ world, anyone can fall into the theft trap easily without being aware of the situation beforehand. The theft could be of anything, be it money or your smartphone, your laptop, or any other more considerable asset; the trauma and heartbreak are real.
When it comes to getting your laptop stolen, it feels like that the world has ended for you. After your phone, your laptop is your most crucial asset loaded with confidential data that cannot be shared with anyone.
But, if you are on the other side of the story and have purchased a stolen laptop from the black market, it is essential to make it untraceable as soon as possible. If you don’t know what the black market is, let us explain it briefly.
It is not difficult for the thieves to sell a nice-looking laptop in the “Black Market” – a place where stolen items are sold at significantly cheaper rates. From here, you can get so many great deals with a bit of a bargain.
A lot of unauthorized sellers also purchase items in bulk from the black market at a lesser price. Buying high-end laptops or other gadgets from unauthorized retailers are not uncommon; this is done in many parts of the world.
If you luckily got a great bang for the buck from an unauthorized seller, make sure to make the laptop untraceable. If the previous owner tries recovering his device, it could easily get tracked down to you.
Purchasing from a black market would be even more worth it for you when you know how to make a stolen laptop untraceable. Below we have discussed some necessary steps that you must perform to prevent your laptop from being tracked down by its previous owner.
Note: Windows laptops are vulnerable hence can easily be made untraceable but, if you got your hands on a stolen Mac, there is no chance that you can make it untraceable.
How to make a stolen laptop untraceable
Fortunately, you will find several ways to save the laptop from being tracked, but remember that none would work for you.
Note: Make sure not to connect your laptop to the internet until you make it untraceable since your IP address could be related to the tracking system
Let’s begin.
Encrypt your Keystrokes
The first step in saving the laptop from being tracked is to protect it against the key lumberjacks. This might be to your surprise but, security offices, administrations, and even hackers know every logger. These rats or loggers include personal data of the users such as their internet IP address, Mac address, visited sites, default internet browser, open ports, and a lot more.
Another best idea is to install a new Operating System and start fresh with your laptop without any complications. Use an OS installer first to boot from all the removable media on the device, erase all the partitions and finally, run the new clean Operating System install.
Secure your encryption
It is crucial to safeguard your encryption as it is at the chance of circumventing. Here are a few ways to secure your encryption so that your laptop doesn’t get tracked.
Use a strong password.
The best way to protect your laptop is by using a strong password that ensures ideal security. To build a solid secret key, it is preferred to use a minimum of twenty characters, including numbers, arbitrary capitals, images, etc.
If you can’t think of something powerful, try out applications for it. Norton secret phase generator is a fantastic help to build a truly increment security.
Bolted screen saver
Your encryption would fail to protect you from the tracking system getting to your device when used. This can be done by obtaining live legal instruments that work without requiring the laptop to shut down.
So, how can you defeat such an intelligent system? By making a bolted screen saver. There are some simple steps that you need to follow to secure your screen saver; these include:
From the menu on the left-hand side, select ‘Lock Screen.’
Scroll down to the bottom and click on ‘Screen Saver Settings.’
Here you will see a check box saying ‘On Resume, Display Logon Screen,’ tick the box, and set ‘Pause’ to 5.
Finally, select what you would like to see as your laptop’s screen saver.
Once done, it’s time to change some plan settings. For this, the steps to be followed are:
Open the Control Panel.
Click on ‘System and Security’ and then select ‘Power Options.’
Look for the arrangement that you have chosen and click on the ‘Change plan settings.’
From here, you need to set the options of ‘Turn Off Display’ to 5.
Ta-da! You have successfully bolted your screen saver.
Use a robust antivirus.
Even the slightest infection by an outsider could put you and your device in a lot of trouble and a high risk of getting exposed. Make sure to set up a robust antivirus. Numerous antivirus software applications offer a wide range of services to protect your laptop, for example, Avast, Mc-Café, AVG, Norton, etc.
Choose any of the software above and find answers for how to make a stolen laptop untraceable. They will guide you through the perfect solution.
If nothing has worked for you so far, here is another sneaky way of preventing the laptop from being tracked, i.e., disabling the anti-theft setting. To do this, you need to go to the BIOS setting and disable it.
In some laptop models, it is also called ‘I’ll AT.”Remember, it won’t be a simple task to perform, and you might encounter some difficulties doing it. But, don’t’ttress out; we have got you covered.
If the BIOS is protected with a password, bring the motherboard jumper into action and reset it. You can also try taking out the primary and BIOS batteries, leaving them for about 20 seconds, and inserting both backs.
This tried and tested method has proved to be successful for most users, but as mentioned earlier, not every method would work for you. If it didn’t’to how you expected, you are probably out of luck and need to try out something else.
Replace the hard disk
Removing the existing hard disk/solid-state drive can also solve a lot of problems for you. Carefully remove the hard disk or SSD that is already integrated into the laptop and remove the networking chips soldered as well.
Purchase a brand new hard disk or SSD and insert it into your laptop with due care. Don’tn’trget to perform a factory reset of the device or format every single software used internally in the laptop.
Note: If you are running Linux, the recommended format is FAT32 or NTFS, or EXTA4.
Switch to Windows from MacOS
As warned earlier, you cannot test your luck with a stolen MacBook since these are exceptionally secured devices that not in any way could be made untraceable. macOS is linked to the cloud and therefore has higher chances to be discovered by its owner when in use.
It is suggested not to purchase a MacBook from an unauthorized user or black market as it could be in great danger. But, if you were unaware of it before and got it anyway, you might need to switch to a Windows OS laptop.
Pro Tip – Maintain your anonymity
Even if you have successfully made the stolen laptop untraceable, it is essential to stay anonymous because you never know if the method worked or not. That is precisely why you must maintain your anonymity, especially when you are connected to the internet.
Here are some top tips that will help you to stay anonymous.
Always keep your IP address hidden.
Make sure to use a nameless device.
Never visit a website that doesn’tesn’t have an SSL certificate.
Keep your records hidden in an encoded holder.
Never discuss stolen or hacked laptops with anyone.
The easier buying a stolen laptop is, the more a headache it becomes. Since you cannot find the thief and ask for a refund, all you can do is either get your desired product in the best deal or lose it all.
Stolen laptops are at a higher chance of getting traced by their owners. That is why we have shared everything that tells you how to make a stolen laptop untraceable. If you plan to keep the device, carefully follow the methods above and make the device untraceable.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
