Most laptop users will have worries about their laptops getting stolen, especially when they’re just a couple of steps away from their laptops. But now you can make use of an old USB flash drive as the laptop security alarm, which makes sounds when the laptop is being detached or taken away from its original position.
The secret behind is by installing the LAlarm security alarm software on your laptop. Have an old USB flash drive fastened with with a strap, plug the USB flash drive into your laptop’s USB port, and then fasten the strap to a table as shown in the few pictures below.
Fasten a strap to a USB flash drive
Fasten the strap to a table
Plug the USB drive into the USB port of the laptop
When you wanna walk away to the loo, simply press the Windows logo key and L key together to lock the laptop. So when someone pulls the laptop away, it’ll sound an alarm that is loud enough to get you quickly come back from the loo.
The LAlarm even instantly locks your laptop while it’s connected to a power outlet which you do not need a USB flash drive in this case.
The LAlarm security software also comes with a number of cool features including allowing you to recover and destroy data when your laptop has fallen into the hands of the thieve. It also has a number of other alarming functions including battery alarm (when battery is low), disk alarm (when the drive needs a repair), and is even capable of sending alert to your mobile phone using SMS or email.
For Business user: Buy online, $50, LAlarm (Free for personal use)
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
[...] Here’s a cool use for one of those USB flash drives laying at the bottom of your junk drawer – use it as an alarm for your laptop. LAarm is a (free for personal use, $50 for business) laptop alarm security application that sounds an alarm when a laptop is in danger of being stolen or losing data. It can also recover and destroy data if the laptop is stolen. You can read a full review of the application at techchee.com [...]
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
What if somebody simply powers down the laptop before snatching it?
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Hi Nunya,
Regarding the power down issue, you can disable the power button. Read http://www.lalarm.com/en/KB1.htm how you can do it. After disabling the power button, unauthorized people can not power down the computer.
However the authorized user/the ower can still power down by selecting “Start > Turn off the computer” after unlocking the computer.
And Thanks James
October 6th, 2009 at 12:08 am
not to “dis” you or anything (this is a sincere question),
what is the advantage of this over a conventional lock?
your software maybe “free”, but you need the anti-theft cable to prevent the usb drive from being stolen… why not just lock it up to the laptop…
I mean instead of alerting theft, wouldn’t prevent it be even better?
October 11th, 2009 at 7:54 am
[...] Lees volledig beveiligingsartikel met USB-stick op Technee.com > LAlarm.com download en [...]
April 20th, 2010 at 8:52 am
[...] unattended laptop, they’ll tend to unplug all the connected USB devices first. So, once this USB laptop alarm is unplugged from the computer, it’ll alert everyone [...]
May 15th, 2010 at 11:53 am
What if i just cut the cable and then run off with the laptop and get a free usb flashdrive as a bonus.
Am i missing something here??