Stolen thinkpad ?

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slasko · #1 Post by **slasko** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:37 am

Hi

I have just got stolen my beloved T42p

My question is this:

While having activated the embedded security chip and made sure you have to swipe you finger before the computer can start, it will render the laptop useless to the theif right?

But what if he takes out the harddrive and inserts it in another laptop, will he then be able to view all my personal files and pictures??

thanks for any replyes

Torque · #2 Post by **Torque** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:10 am

As far as I know, he wont be able to read your harddrive in any way. A project manager from IBM DK told me this sometime.

fschwep · #3 Post by **fschwep** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:02 am

I think it depends on whether you had set a separate password on the harddisk. If that is the case, the thief would not be able to get into that disk as the password is stored in the disk electronics. If no HD password has been set, the thief may be looking at all your data right now. In that case the first thing to do would be to log in to your banking and other financial websites using another computer, and change all the passwords for entry to those services. Then do the same for any other online service that uses your personal data. If you think that your creditcard number may be stored in a readable form somewhere on that harddisk, call your creditcard company and block that card(s) NOW.
Then report the machine stolen through IBM/Lenovo, so any future buyer of the computer will notice that he has obtained a stolen pc when checking the serial number for warranty data.

slasko · #4 Post by **slasko** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:41 pm

Hi thanks for the answers, it put me somewhat at ease.

I have another password for the harddisk than my logon password now that you metioned it. HA HA the thief cant use my laptop OR see whats stored on the harddrive, oh i just love IBM

I have canceled my homebanking system and phoned IBM and reported my laptop stolen.

nirvana0001 · #5 Post by **nirvana0001** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:12 pm

i don't think the theft can even see the windows loading screen. replacing hardware doesn't help. thinkpad is using hardware + software secrutiy system.

slasko · #6 Post by **slasko** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:43 pm

Yes

As i understand it, they have to put in a new harddrive and replace the embedded security chip wich is placed on the motherboard, to be able to use it. You have to be pretty geeky to do that.

Or if they by some miracle find a person who have a close match to my fingerprint wich is doubtfull

tselling · #7 Post by **tselling** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:29 pm

I would also post a no questions asked reward around where it was stolen. In the reward info you can post that the laptop has been secured by several passwords making unuseable to anyone but yourself. The thief might decide to make some quick money by returning it for the reward rather than parting it out.

gunston · #8 Post by **gunston** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:28 am

my friend had just got a T42 from ebay.
how can she know that this thinkpad is whether or not a theft item?

DIGITALgimpus · #9 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:21 am

Let IBM/Lenovo know... call support.

They sometimes make record of it, and if the thief calls tech support for help with a locked laptop.... they know what's up.

nirvana0001 · #10 Post by **nirvana0001** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:07 am

i have a question tho, is it possible that tell ibm let the theft send in the stolen tp for tech support and send it back to the original owner?

gunston · #11 Post by **gunston** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:12 am

good idea!

DIGITALgimpus · #12 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:51 pm

I've posted this a few times before:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171617,00.html

cmarti · #13 Post by **cmarti** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:10 pm

DIGITALgimpus wrote:I've posted this a few times before:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171617,00.html

Cool story thanks got after so many years buying HP and Dell i finally found IBM.

mybellyisempty · #14 Post by **mybellyisempty** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 7:46 am

On this note...is there a way to get the fingerprint to substitute for typing out the hdd password? As I've got 2 hdds that are passworded (thanks to this thread)...it would be easier if I could just swipe my finger 3 times.

Disregard, I got it. Changed it to where it only allows fingerprints, no passwords, and now it just authenticates both hdds after the POP.

I don't -need- this kind of security...but having it makes me feel sooooo much better.

I am curious, though. Should this laptop fail for whatever reason...how will I get those hdds back? the TPM chip isn't enabled at the moment...can I just pop the drives in another computer and put in the passwords there?

#15 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:13 am

mybellyisempty wrote:As I've got 2 hdds that are passworded (thanks to this thread)...

I am curious, though. Should this laptop fail for whatever reason...how will I get those hdds back? the TPM chip isn't enabled at the moment...can I just pop the drives in another computer and put in the passwords there?

AFAIK, unless you can clear the password using your existing laptop, that hard drive is toast. However, I believe I read there may be a way to remove the password; but all data on the drive will be lost.

Also, consider this: if your hard drive fails, how will you recover your files? (And this will likely happen if you own your ThinkPad long enough.) You need an external backup, be it on a network drive, a spare hard drive, DVD's, or even CD's.

mhca · #16 Post by **mhca** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:24 am

mybellyisempty wrote:On this note...is there a way to get the fingerprint to substitute for typing out the hdd password? As I've got 2 hdds that are passworded (thanks to this thread)...it would be easier if I could just swipe my finger 3 times.

I am only swiping my finger once for both power-on and HDD-password and also Windows password.

In bios you can go to Security and then to Fingerprint and there select to have bios support for Fingerprints.

In the Fingerprint Control Center in Windows I have selected that Single sign-on is enabled so that I don't have to swipe my finger when starting Windows after already having swiped my finger once at boot.

JHEM · #17 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:01 am

mybellyisempty wrote:I am curious, though. Should this laptop fail for whatever reason...how will I get those hdds back? the TPM chip isn't enabled at the moment...can I just pop the drives in another computer and put in the passwords there?

If you put the HDs in another Thinkpad, the PW will be "seen" and you'll be prompted to enter it to gain access to the HD.

Entering the HD PW followed by a space will remove the PW if the drive's installed in a 2nd HDD adapter, or it can be removed in the BIOS by entering the PW and resetting it, provided the affected HD is installed as the primary HD.

Regards,

James

#18 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:15 am

Thanks for clearing up my error James.

JHEM · #19 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:20 am

GomJabbar wrote:Thanks for clearing up my error James.

No problem Dave.

Besides, us MM&P folks are used to cleaning up after you MEBA types!

Regards,

James

DIGITALgimpus · #20 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:35 am

cmarti wrote: Cool story thanks got after so many years buying HP and Dell i finally found IBM.

That's not IBM exclusive... most manufacturers do this. You just need to get in contact with the right people who know about the blacklist. That can be the tough part. In the past I've heard stories about HP and Apple.. no clue about Dell.

christopher_wolf · #21 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:30 pm

DIGITALgimpus wrote:[...]no clue about Dell.

I bet, in such cases, the owner would just let it drop silently and used it as an excuse to buy something better, hopefully a Thinkpad.

James, do you know what other machines support the HDD PW feature?

It has been part of the standard ATA specification for some time now, but I haven't seen any other systems, especially laptops, support it like the Thinkpads. Theoretically, you should be able to hook the HDD up to a PATA/IDE interface and then clear the password on that machine as if it was on the Thinkpad it came from; that doesn't work, however, for an external enclosure I believe because the protocol is slightly different.

mybellyisempty · #22 Post by **mybellyisempty** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:36 pm

GomJabbar wrote:
mybellyisempty wrote:As I've got 2 hdds that are passworded (thanks to this thread)...

I am curious, though. Should this laptop fail for whatever reason...how will I get those hdds back? the TPM chip isn't enabled at the moment...can I just pop the drives in another computer and put in the passwords there?
AFAIK, unless you can clear the password using your existing laptop, that hard drive is toast. However, I believe I read there may be a way to remove the password; but all data on the drive will be lost.

Also, consider this: if your hard drive fails, how will you recover your files? (And this will likely happen if you own your ThinkPad long enough.) You need an external backup, be it on a network drive, a spare hard drive, DVD's, or even CD's.

External backups are already made, and a regular part of my routine. Mostly, it's just a matter of whether or not I can salvage my drives should my thinkpad get messed up, or if I have paperweights.

I just tried pulling the 2nd hdd out of my IBM and put it in my dad's Dell. I put in the proper password, but it wouldn't authenticate it.

So...at least for that drive, I'm taking the password off. All I use it for is storage (VMWare machines and a protected Ghost backup of drive 1)...and the primary drive is under IBM warranty anyway, so until Nov 2008 when my laptop is no longer under warranty...I can just yell at them for a hardware failure.

supernova87a · #23 Post by **supernova87a** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 4:35 am

regarding the hard drive password -- how do you activate this?

I currently encrypt "my documents" folder which I thought was a reasonable way to secure my data (under folder properties, click advanced, encrypt), but I didn't know the whole hard drive could be secured too.

#24 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:16 am

supernova87a wrote:regarding the hard drive password -- how do you activate this?

Hardware Maintenance Manual wrote:Hard-disk password:

There are two hard-disk passwords (HDPs):
* User HDP—for the user
* Master HDP—for the system administrator, who can use it to get access to the hard disk even if the user has changed the user

Note: There are two modes for the HDP: User only and Master + User. The Master + User mode requires two HDPs; the system administrator enters both in the same operation. The system administrator then provides the user HDP to the system user.

Attention: If the user HDP has been forgotten, check whether a master HDP has been set. If it has, it can be used for access to the hard disk drive. If no master HDP is available, neither Lenovo nor Lenovo authorized servicers provide any services to reset either the user or the master HDP, or to recover data from the hard disk drive. The hard disk drive can be replaced for a scheduled fee.

These settings are done in the BIOS, under Security. Rather than post the entire process from the Hardware Maintenance Manual here, I'll post the link to it. See pages 28 - 31.

Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p

simms · #25 Post by **simms** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:49 pm

I was able to swap my 60GB with HDD password from my T40 to T42 without any problems. I just typed in my password into the T42, and it worked just fine..

Then again, on the T40 I may not have had the chip enabled, so that might be why it worked.

slasko · #26 Post by **slasko** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:50 am

If you put the HDs in another Thinkpad, the PW will be "seen" and you'll be prompted to enter it to gain access to the HD.

Entering the HD PW followed by a space will remove the PW if the drive's installed in a 2nd HDD adapter, or it can be removed in the BIOS by entering the PW and resetting it, provided the affected HD is installed as the primary HD.

In BIOS you still have to enter the harddisk password right?
Or is it sufficient to just enter the local BIOS password for the laptop the hdd is inserted?

Stolen thinkpad ?

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