[thelist] [OT] Stolen laptop + Rails tip

[Christian Heilmann]

On 2/16/06, Ian Anderson <ian at zstudio.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> sorry for the OT, but would really value some input from the list on this:
>
> My Dell laptop was stolen last night from my house, while we were
> upstairs getting the kids off to bed. The laptop has Windows 2000
> Professional, and the thing requires a password to login to Windows when
> it starts up. The hard disk is not encrypted.
>
> b. Is it likely that the person that gets it will be able to boot it up
> and access the hard disk as a mounted volume from a different PC?

Dunno, I doubt it.

> c. Booting from a floppy or CD, do they get to see files on the hard disk?

Definitely. I have used a linux boot CD in the past to delete files
windows would just not allow me to delete. Ultimate Boot CD has lots
of tools for that.

> d. Can they reinstall Windows while preserving all the files and settings?

Doubt that.

My guess is that whoever swiped or will buy it from the thief it will
just format the machine. Normal procedure would be to make it appear
as if it is new and has a new windows install.



--
Chris Heilmann
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