Computrace Truth?

[DumbPad]

Unfortunately I just bought my first ThinkPad and I'm already regretting it... They promised there was no supervisor password, but there is. And now I learned about this CompuTrace spyware which is probably way worse than Apple's phoning home.

Can anyone confirm that it does not phone home if "enabled" but "Not Activated"? I guess not... I suppose that at any moment they could activate it, inject their software into my freshly installed Linux, and steal all of my passwords & money from my bank account. Perhaps the strategy is to sell used laptops, claim they got it at an auction, then activate computrace at some later date to steal everything from you! And after reading around the web I don't see anything ruling out this possibility. So perhaps I should throw this thing in the garbage and just build positive karma!

1) What does "enabled" mean under "Computrace Module Activation"?
2) Can it be disabled without the supervisor password using software?
3) I see many guides on disabling supervisor passwords, but can it be done on an x395 without de-soldering / special tools?

Thank you.

If all I need to do is short out a jumper, then that is easy (as claimed here: https://htr3n.github.io/2019/06/t430s-s ... d-removal/ )
However, I have not been able to confirm that is true for this model (x395).

[atagunov]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Was it on ebay? It does look like an unscrupulous seller and delivered goods not being as advertised.. Owning a machine with supervisor password sounds like too much of a sour deal, I'd return it if I could. Don't think removing the password is easy on X395, they've put effort into making it hard.

There are topics on this website about how ComputTrace works, feel free to have a search.. my understanding is it's pretty nasty and you will not be able to easily make it harmless. Forum rules generally forbid discussing in detail how to work around either supervisor password or CompuTrace.

My impression however is that apart from this restriction the knowledge is just not out there in the open. And I believe the implementation of these technologies differs between models.

[RealBlackStuff]

If your X395 has a BIOS password, return it for a full refund.
If from eBay, it should be an easy case of "not as described".

[DumbPad]

Crazy how all the forums / outlets have rules against discussing the truth beyond a certain point about physical hardware we own.
Harder to actually own your own hardware these days. AMD & Intel all have "management engines" anyway...
Fingers crossed on https://frame.work actually being a decent laptop.

I got it on another website and I will not be able to return it. CompuTrace says they cannot find the serial number in their system (despite it saying "enabled" but "not activated" in the BIOS). Still no idea what the chances are it could get activated later suddenly during some critical moment of use.

[BillMorrow]

first, mr. dumbpad, Kyiv is not even close to boston..
supervisor passwords being set probably means that thinkpad you have has a 'checkered' history..
new thinkpads don't have passwords set and as for computrace being enabled.. well, is it a stolen thinkpad you got there..?
EDIT: something is shady here, why hide your real location wihle complaining about a 'shady' thinkpad deal.. not the thinkpads fault for having anti-theft applications running.. or a supervisor password set..

[DumbPad]

And quickly they establish who the authority & who the dissenters are... I'm currently traveling.

[DumbPad]

Before character attacks continue, I will re-iterate that I have phoned in the model number to CompuTrace and they say it is not in their system. Which means it was never reported as stolen.

[BillMorrow]

And quickly they establish who the authority & who the dissenters are... I'm currently traveling.

yes, that can be a problem.. so when you get home please correct your location field..

[BillMorrow]

Before character attacks continue, I will re-iterate that I have phoned in the model number to CompuTrace and they say it is not in their system. Which means it was never reported as stolen.

there is also misappropriation.. some corporate asset taken and sold..
with the china virus hysteria and people is authoritarian places locked away from work and so forth some people might be getting desperate..
so, was this an ebay or craigslist deal..?
you can't blame the thinkpad by calling it dumb..

[RealBlackStuff]

Computrace 'Enabled' is just that, it's not phoning home or anything else.
You should be able to set it to 'Disabled' or 'Permanently disabled'.
If not, you have a password problem, which makes it very difficult to fix.

[DumbPad]

Computrace 'Enabled' is just that, it's not phoning home or anything else.
You should be able to set it to 'Disabled' or 'Permanently disabled'.
If not, you have a password problem, which makes it very difficult to fix.

Will just have to wait until I find better instructions for resetting the supervisor password, if they surface. When I have a router I can mess with, then maybe I'll check if it phones home at boot or the first 10m after booting. This is somewhat concerning, however:
https://www.cyberscoop.com/lojack-compu ... kaspersky/

[davidgurvich]

Computrace is annoying but calling the number will work if the laptop isn't stolen. The software does communicate with Computrace and needs an active internet connection to disable. I think I had to keep Windows installed for an extra 2 weeks.

[RealBlackStuff]

If BIOS says Computrace Enabled and it is greyed-out, then Computrace is active and you need to stop it one way or another.
If BIOS says Computrace Enabled and it is NOT greyed-out, nothing is happening and you can change it to Disabled/Permanently disabled.
In any case, if there is a BIOS password, you need to know it or remove it first.