Computrace

[andy2000]

I have a T60 wide screen which gives me a warning about Computrace whenever I enter BIOS setup. I have contacted Computrace and given them the serial number, and they said there is no active Computrace service on this laptop, and that there is no way to remove the message. I have never seen this message on any other T60, so I find their answer hard to believe. Apart from having to hit OK every time I enter BIOS, is there anything else I should be concerned about?

[RealBlackStuff]

Here is some info: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/104500
Check in your BIOS if you can permanently disable it. Newer models let you do that.

[richk]

You cannot disable it on a T60. (nothing before T400) You need to contact Absolute Software. They will ask for some sort of proof-of-purchase along with the machine serial number and the motherboard serial number from the BIOS. They will then contact their registered owner. (the guy who originally bought computrace) Assuming it is not stolen, they will flag the machine for deletion in their database. The next time you connect to the internet, a miracle will occur and it will be gone.

[TuuS]

a miracle will occur and it will be gone.

sounds almost like spyware, software that calls home without you doing anything to initiate it lol, but I guess in this case it's a good thing, but I'd be really annoyed if I had it on my system and I neither got any service from it (meaning it wasn't registered or protecting me as the owner), or they weren't willing to remove it.

As for it protecting you, I think it would be pretty easy to figure out what IP address' it calls home to and block them in a firewall or router, so I think it would only serve to catch stupid thieves.

I often wondered how it worked, I always assumed it was a hardware device, celular perhaps that bypassed the internet as a means to report home. For what it costs, I'd expect more then some embedded spyware.

[RealBlackStuff]

Even CompuTrace is not invincible.
It can be disabled if you have the proper tools.

[ajkula66]

A couple of my machines came with it...I just learned to ignore it, really fast.

And RBS is correct, as usual...for the most part, CompuTrace is a joke...

[ThinkRob]

1) It *is* spyware.

2) It is useless if the machine is not running Windows (or never connected to a network.)

3) It can be removed via flashing a modified BIOS. No, I won't provide links or instructions, but if you're a good enough researcher and reverse engineer it's not exactly difficult...

[andy2000]

You cannot disable it on a T60. (nothing before T400) You need to contact Absolute Software. They will ask for some sort of proof-of-purchase along with the machine serial number and the motherboard serial number from the BIOS. They will then contact their registered owner. (the guy who originally bought computrace) Assuming it is not stolen, they will flag the machine for deletion in their database. The next time you connect to the internet, a miracle will occur and it will be gone.

I already did that, and this was their reply:

"I’ve checked our systems and can confirm that we could not locate any records of your device having Computrace installed. The BIOS notification that you see is just a message to advise that the device has a Computrace module embedded within the BIOS; you have to actively purchase a license and install the Computrace agent to utilize the BIOS compatibility feature. Unfortunately as this is part of the system board’s makeup you cannot remove this message."

[Bánh mì]

All Thinkpads and probably all NBs come with it embedded in the BIOS. If you add the service then the software activates what is supposed to be dormant. This leads me to bleieve its BIOS issue possibly corrupted. Have you tried upgrading/downgrading or even reflashing the BIOS? Now if you choose to doo this its on your own risk but faced with the information you have presented its may be your only option. Or you could by the software and truly activate it and see what happens.

[ajkula66]

Banh mi wrote:

All Thinkpads and probably all NBs come with it embedded in the BIOS.

Absolutely, positively NOT.

[Bánh mì]

I looked at the software. Its not junk like you think. Embedded in BIOS and persistant so a HDD change and or reformat wont get rid of it. True one has to be online for it to phone home but once you alert the company they can even read keystrokes. IMO a NB will be recovered from the avg. thief. Even if a sophisticated theif discovers it through IP they would try to pawn it off to the average Joe Blow who would log onto AOL etc. and there is your recovery.

[Bánh mì]

Theres a list. All MODERN era machines. Maybe not some of the "classics" you use. Like I have cars without catalytic coverters that run on leaded gas only.
The software only activates it.
Believe what you want.
Im not in a competition with you over who is right. Ive considered buying it and did my DD.

[ajkula66]

Huh...if I wrote what I knew this thread would disappear and I could get myself banned from this forum which has been way too much fun for years, so all I'm going to say is that whoever is interested in CompuTrace and/or removing it, should read ThinkRob's response above...

That being said, CompuTrace is NOT present in BIOS on any ThinkPad by default, at least going up to R/T400/500 and W500/700 - can't vouch for the later models.

What I think is really not important. I'd never choose to have it installed, but that's me.

What I know could be important, but refer to the first paragraph of this post for further details...

[Bánh mì]

Huh...if I wrote what I knew this thread would disappear and I could get myself banned from this forum which has been way too much fun for years, so all I'm going to say is that whoever is interested in CompuTrace and/or removing it, should read ThinkRob's response above...

That being said, CompuTrace is NOT present in BIOS on any ThinkPad by default, at least going up to R/T400/500 and W500/700 - can't vouch for the later models.

What I think is really not important. I'd never choose to have it installed, but that's me.

What I know could be important, but refer to the first paragraph of this post for further details...

OK thanks. Important data point I am missing or not giving enough weight.

[loyukfai]

@Bánh mì: BTW, I hope you will read and research more before posting. Just noticed that in another thread another forumer asked about FDE, and you asked him why didn't he use BitLocker. The problem is that he said in the *1st* post that BitLocker isn't available because of his version of Windows.

Cheers.

Edit: Edited to correct the broken URL link. BTW, I should have sent this via PM, but let's keep the thread on-topic from now on. Thx.

Edit2: By no means I intend to imply you're "chi sin" (BTW, to English forumers, it means crazy in Chinese), but I definitely want to enjoy a better forum experience. That's, one with informative, interesting and insightful posts that are factually correct. I don't mind arguments as long as it's done in civil and logically sound manner.

[Bánh mì]

My meaning is it seems to me an upgrade to a different version of Win7 would offer him BL. Not "chi sin" to me but least to me BL would be a more comprehensive solution than porting TC.

[ThinkRob]

I looked at the software. Its not junk like you think. Embedded in BIOS and persistant so a HDD change and or reformat wont get rid of it.

This is wrong.

Computrace's BIOS code will indeed re-infect Windows installations -- but that's it. It really is like a virus; it can only infect certain hosts, specifically only Windows. That's *all* the BIOS payload can do (at least that's all I remember it being able to do when I last looked into it.)

That being said, CompuTrace is NOT present in BIOS on any ThinkPad by default, at least going up to R/T400/500 and W500/700 - can't vouch for the later models.

IIRC, the hooks for it are indeed present in the X41 generation and onwards -- but it's not enabled by default. It can (at least in recent generations) be permanently soft-disabled via the BIOS (i.e. the payload is still in the BIOS, but it can't be activated). Completely removing the payload, or removing it without ownership of the computer are, simply put, outside of both the rules and focus of this forum.

[andy2000]

Back on topic....

I have already flashed the BIOS twice, and the notification is still there. It has also been on the Internet for quite a while since I contacted them with no change.

This thread says that they can remove the message from their end:

http://forums.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=86207

Maybe it was activated when it was new, and then the subscription was canceled, and it's not in their system any more for some reason? Maybe it was triggered accidentally? I will let you know what they say.

[richk]

It is certainly in the BIOS but not in the segments that you update. There are parts of the BIOS image related to security that are not touched by the update process. I won't discuss that part further. There is another piece of information that activates or deactivates it. It is stored in a manner similar to passwords. I won't discuss that part further. It sounds like the original owner bought the service. He/she would have been given something to run that activated it. At that time, the 2 serial numbers that show on the BIOS screen (the one next to the type on the bar code sticker and the one stored in the system board) were stored in Absolute Software's database. They are supposed to be able to flag it for deletion. Go back to them and make sure the system board serial number is correct. The one I am talking about is 11 characters long. It is the one that is unique to your system board.

This is as far as we should go here. I am locking the topic.