Every tablet ever made gets assigned a serial number, while your tablet is assigned an IMEI if it has LTE service. Learn how to locate your tablet's IMEI or Serial.
Time to tackle a question from the old e-mailbag:
Track My Serial Number
I believe that prevention is better than cure, so I'd like to put in place a mechanism that would help me in the event that my notebook -- Windows -- is lost or stolen. Can you suggest anything that won't break the bank?
Yes I can, and the pricing starts at a very reasonable $0.
Introducing Prey, an open source, cross-platform anti-theft tracker that lets you keep track of all your devices easily in one place. Whatever your device, chances are Prey has you covered as there are installers available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Ubuntu, Android, and iOS.
Prey is easy to use. First off, you download and install the right version for your hardware. Then, after you've created an account and got it set up the way you want, you can forget about it until the day that your device is lost or stolen.
As soon as you discover that your hardware has been lost or stolen, you can activate prey by logging into your account and select the device 'missing-in-action'. Then, Prey's servers send a signal to the device -- either over the Web or with a text message -- that kicks Prey into action, gathering information such as location, hardware details and network status information. You can also capture screen shots, take pictures with the forward-facing camera, and even lock the system down to prevent further intrusion.
Prey offers a free, unlimited, 3-device account for anyone wanting to give the software a try. There are also premium account options that increase the device limit and add features such as automated deployment and full SSL encryption of all gathered data.
Prevention is—by far—better than cure, as the reader puts it. Putting a mechanism in place for recovering your lost or stolen hardware before the worst happens gives you a fighting chance of being able to find your hardware, or at worst, keep your data away from prying eyes.
Image source: Prey.
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Apple PCs Servers Storage Networking Data CentersThis question already has an answer here:
- Find lost device without Gmail account configured and without SIM card 1 answer
A couple of days ago, I lost my dear Android tablet. I dont know if I have left it somewhere or if it in fact was stolen :/It does not have any 3G module, and hence no SIM, inserted. I haven't logged into my Google Account on the tablet. And I have not installed any tracking software.
The tablet have a GPS installed. Is there any way to track the tablet using only the serial-number?
marked as duplicate by Dan Hulme, bmdixon, Chahk, Izzy♦, eldarerathisAug 4 '14 at 15:15
This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.
1 Answer
Yes. You report the loss or theft to the police, and give them the serial number. (You'll need proof that it was yours, of course.) If someone finds it and hands it in, or if it's recovered from the thief, then they know it is yours, and will return it to you.
That's your only option. Since you haven't signed into your account on the tablet, as far as it's concerned, it doesn't belong to you. You can't remote-deploy tracking software onto it or enable Google's Android Device Manager. The GPS itself doesn't help you at all: it only tells the tablet where it is, not anyone else.
Track Phone By Serial Number
