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m_archer92

19 Posts

968953

July 25th, 2007 20:00

CompuTrace?

Okay, I have a Dell Inspiron E1505. The CompuTrace in the BIOS was accidentally activated by yours truly... and I want to disable it. I know that this is "self-rebuilding technology" and it isn't supposed to be disabled, but hey... software changes are ALWAYS undo-able. Yes, I have flashed the BIOS... and I can't flash it down from what it is already. I have it at A17, but I tried everything below that and it wouldn't let me flash it down. And I also tried setting all default values, but nothing happened. Anyone got a clue as to what I can do?
 
-I never wanted this software on here... it just came on here.

m_archer92

19 Posts

July 28th, 2007 01:00

Ah. I see. Well, I don't have it installed on the OS, so I guess no harm is really done. Now won't it still trace though if you are connected to the internet, but it isn't on the hard disk, just the BIOS?

Bay Wolf

4.4K Posts

July 28th, 2007 01:00

I believe that it is permamently activated.
 
However, Computrace will not function unless the computrace software is installed in the OS.
 
http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/
 

Bay Wolf

4.4K Posts

July 28th, 2007 23:00

No.  You have to have the software installed to call home, the BIOS can't.  In addition, you must be paying the monthly fee to use it.
 
So if the software is not installed and you are not paying for the service, it will not do anything.
 
 

m_archer92

19 Posts

July 29th, 2007 01:00

Alright then, I just want to find out as much as I can. Thanks for the help.
-On an unrelated note, what if you DID pay for service, but you removed the software from the hard disk, or got a new hard disk, but it is still activated in the BIOS?

Bay Wolf

4.4K Posts

July 29th, 2007 02:00

You would have to reload the software to use the service.
 
Here is something from the web site that I linked to for you.
Software installed on your computer works behind the scenes to silently and securely contact our Monitoring Center, and if stolen, reports its location using any Internet connection.
 
Notice that it only works when the system is booted up and then also has an internet connection. 
 
 


Message Edited by Bay Wolf on 07-28-2007 10:39 PM

m_archer92

19 Posts

July 29th, 2007 03:00

Okay, so let me get this straight... The CompuTrace software is only monitoring if I have the software installed on the hard disk, but if it is not on the hard disk, only activated in the BIOS. It isn't tracking (using the BIOS Module Interface), even if I did pay for the service?

dpeters11

14 Posts

August 3rd, 2007 18:00

There is no monthly fee for Lojack for Laptops. It's like AV, you get it in increments of a year. In my case, I got a years worth of Lojack for each year of CompleteCare I bought. However if you install the software and it is enabled in the BIOS, after that point it doesn't matter if the hard drive is formatted or replaced. It will still call back to Absolute and the software will reinstall. The only way it may not work is if Linux were installed, but most theives or whoever buys it from them won't bother, at most reformat and install Windows.

m_archer92

19 Posts

August 3rd, 2007 21:00

Alright. In that case... why did Bay Wolf say that it doesn't matter if it is active in the BIOS or not... it can't call back if the software is not on the OS... This is kinda confusing.

dmillfree

2 Posts

October 12th, 2014 01:00

This is wrong, Recently the past 2 months or so I have been buying repairing and selling Latitude E6510's, Precision M4500's and Precision M4600's. I go over these laptops thoroughly. What I noticed is when I did a series of bios updates to bring the bios up to date is Computrace was suddenly activated in the bios and I cannot change it. How did this happen?? What I do know is that as long as the bios is Computrace enabled the "agent files" still get installed into the windows operating system. This also alters autochk.exe with a Computrace version. Read that again it replaces windows system files. THe files it installs are rcpnet.exe, rcpnetp.exe, rcpnet.dll, rcpnetp.dll, and it also installs a service named either rcpnet or rcpnetp. This service and the files involved do contact Computrace servers even though the Computrace software is not installed. Basically you have a rootkit built into the bios.

DELL why did computrace automatically get activated just doing bios updates?

Also if you clone one dell hard drive that has the agent active on it and move that hard drive to another identical laptop the "Computrace Agent" may be what alters the bios to activated.

So we have millions of laptops out there that are potential hacker targets because this computrace mechanism was already demonstrated to be vulnerable to attack.

Dell needs to act upon this asap because they are responsible for this.

ademcal

20 Posts

May 7th, 2016 09:00

I have same like the problem. I didn't Computrace disable.

it is weird. where is the Deactivate Computrace Beside ı am new Dell 7559 user.

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