In other words: if the Precision isn't stolen (which I am sure it isn't, the previous owner bought it off lease a while ago) I can just call Absolute Software and ask them to disable CompuTrace?

I think the first link spelled that out. If you do not have the software installed, activated, and paying a monthly fee for the software, then it is not active.

Hi, I reply now even if the question is 3 years old but this is for anyone who has the issue of having computrace active and wanting to deactivate it .

You can send an email including all serial numbers you can find from the bios and ask them to unlock the computrace settings in the bios. You will need to have windows running permanently for up to 3 days and in reduced network protection to make sure they/their software can access the computer. I did this before and it worked well , I put the computer in DMZ in the router and when done wipe the windows just in case something else like malware came in.

I did this successfuly on Lenovo thinkpad and Dell Latitude.

Active in the bios doesn't mean that the computrace client is automatically installed in windows, to check this you can search for the service and file "rpcnet.exe" . if it's present the computrace agen is installed and it will re-install in windows even if you wipe and re-install windows.

Please note that if your system is not cleared by the previous owner , Absolute software will notify the previous owner.