SwiM Stole this laptop..

[Ouroboros]

So what should he do to make it untracable

[Other Side of the Pillow]

Sell it for cash, no names involved.

[Ouroboros]

Originally Posted by Other Side of the Pillow

Sell it for cash, no names involved.

im looking along the lines of reinstalling the OS and changing the ip but what else

[HippieTrippie]

Dismantle it and sell the parts for profit

[Ouroboros]

Originally Posted by 1337

You don't have to worry about the IP addresses. When you connect to the internet at your house, you'll get a new one anyway. The only reason to avoid the internet is to keep antitheft software such as lojack from phoning home.

it has computrace but i disabled it is there anyway to decect a lojack and would it still exist after a full partition

[slm33d]

Shelf it.

[Powdered Toast Man please]

diamonddillium

[a334jv2df]

Better hope lo jack isn't running! Regardless, there are dozens of unique serial codes stamped all over the hardware. Usually they aren't "stamped", but rather written on a sticker... in which case you can just peel the sticker off. You can usually get more money from individual pieces then from the computer as a whole. If you aren't a hardware guy and don't want to break the thing I'd suggest craigslist. Buy a prepaid phone for $50 and post an ad on craigslist while using an elite proxy. Meet somewhere in public without video cameras, ask for cash. Mark it low

[:MAD:ijuana]

Pawn it

[refugee]

reformat the computer. now. before you do anything else reformat that bitch. If it is a dell it is ctrl-f11 I believe. just follow the instructions. if it has lojack you are fucked if you used your wifi.

reformat it and you are straight.

find a friend good with computers and lacks a conscience. have them get into the hardware and change the serial numbers, if you can get that accomplished take off all stickers and scratch off all visible serial numbers.

[v0x]

Don't do anything from above.

Go download DBAN, it's free (stands for Darik's Boot and Nuke). Burn it to a CD. Set it to whipe all partitions with Guttman standard, and at least 8 layers. After that, try to peel off as many stickers from the case as you can. If you're familiar with laptops, and know you won't break it, open the case and peel off stickers in there too. If you're really serious, file off numbers too. Now, change as much of the hardware serial numbers/IDs as you can (for example, here's a thread on how to change a hard disk serial number: http://www.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=77512). Once you've made sure everything is good, post an ad on Craigslist through a proxy, agree to a public place with few cameras (parks are good), get there and back via public transportation, and sell it for cash.

[Syphilis]

I would also boot from a live linux CD and look for useful information before I wipe the hard disk, and use file recovery software (testdisk/photorec) to look for anything else useful that had previously been deleted.

v0x is right, DBAN is good for wiping disks. A full Gutmann wipe is a 35 pass erase which will take a huge amount of time and is overkill, the 7 pass DoD wipe is what I would recommend.

[Dfg]

Originally Posted by v0x

Don't do anything from above.

Go download DBAN, it's free (stands for Darik's Boot and Nuke). Burn it to a CD. Set it to whipe all partitions with Guttman standard, and at least 8 layers. After that, try to peel off as many stickers from the case as you can. If you're familiar with laptops, and know you won't break it, open the case and peel off stickers in there too. If you're really serious, file off numbers too. Now, change as much of the hardware serial numbers/IDs as you can (for example, here's a thread on how to change a hard disk serial number: http://www.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=77512). Once you've made sure everything is good, post an ad on Craigslist through a proxy, agree to a public place with few cameras (parks are good), get there and back via public transportation, and sell it for cash.

Originally Posted by Syphilis

I would also boot from a live linux CD and look for useful information before I wipe the hard disk, and use file recovery software (testdisk/photorec) to look for anything else useful that had previously been deleted.

v0x is right, DBAN is good for wiping disks. A full Gutmann wipe is a 35 pass erase which will take a huge amount of time and is overkill, the 7 pass DoD wipe is what I would recommend.

What both said and if everything fails.

Thermite.

[DeshiKicksFTP]

I swear, people seem to get more and more stupid every day.

You never keep a stolen laptop, cell phone, or anything like that. You sell it. Aww, now you don't have a computer? Steal something else and sell it, and keep doing it till you have enough money to pay for a laptop. I know it hurts to pay for something you can get free, but what's more important here, your money or your freedom?


Don't even turn it on again after you make sure it works. Like already said, post on craigslist via proxy, use a burner email addy, and just meet them somewhere. You can drive, but just make sure you park a few blocks away or something. This isn't a murder case, they aren't going to check traffic cams for you to see which parking lot you go to.

You are A LOT less likely to successfully move a laptop with all the stickers peeled off the back.

[Zok]

Before you boot it, deny it access from the internet. Make sure any wifi is off (if there's a hardware switch for it) - if you can't disable wifi manually, make sure you boot it in a place where it won't get any wireless reception. Wifi triangulation is remarkably accurate - you can easily track a person down to a one block radius with it.

After it's been booted without wifi, format the machine.