Travel Technology - Marking laptop for anti-theft purposes

I am a little concerned about someone "accidentally" running off with my laptop at a security checkpoint (yes, I watch my stuff, but it can still happen) or elsewhere (less likely). I was about to use a thick red permanent marker to put my name on the top of my ThinkPad but I couldn't bare to deface the gleaming black surface. Can you recommend an attractive way to mark the top of my laptop? And anything better than using my name? I'm not sure I want everyone who sees it to know who I am.

I also thought of putting my e-mail address and phone number on the bottom in case someone finds it or the police recover it. It already has indelible markings from the local police which presumably could be used to track me down if in the UK but this would make it easier to return to me. Any pitfalls to this?

It's a fairly common practice here in the states to engrave your possessions with some number that can be tracked back to you. Most people use their driver's license and state, which the police can probably access the easiest. Some people put full name and address information.

That only works if it's recovered, if somebody was to steal it, they really wouldn't care about that if they were using it themselves, no matter what you do they could cover it, paint it, scratch it out, etc. It may prevent them from selling it, but in that case they aren't going to give it back just because it's marked, it's off to the trash probably.

I don't believe indelible is enough, a bit of sand paper and those are gone. Engrave it on the case.

Some interesting issues are raised here.

I'm not sure if a U.K. laptop came into my hands, that I'd be able to track it down right away in the U.S., or be able to readily identify a number as a U.K. drivers license unless it said it was exactly that ( I don't know what groupings of numbers or letters they use). I know we could request the information via Interpol, but we'd have to know what country we'd be requesting it from to start off. Otherwise, off into found property it would likely go.

Maybe the best thing would be to make sure it's registered with the manufacturer, so if we call them with a serial number they can tell us who to contact. Aside from that, some of the ideas you had for marking it with an e-mal address, or even your initials, makes sense. Everyone in my police department has internet access, so it an e-mail address might be the easiest way to contact you when you have residence in a different country.

my new laptop came with a little slot on the back in which you can put your business card, now granted, that is not going to work for theft, it makes it easy to figure out whose dell is whose at check points.

Someone I know did a lovely job of affixing a million spongebob squarepants stickers to her very swish powerbook, no one in their right mind is going to walk off with a spongebob adorned laptop. :D

I taped my business card to the batteries of my laptop. When I place it in the bins at security, I always place it upside down with the card facing up. That way it's easier for me to identify my machine, and harder for someone to claim they thought it was theirs.

My last company participated in a registration program that required placing large red STOP stickers on the front cover. I hated using those machines, but apparently the theft/loss rate went down.

There are also the software agents you can place on the hard drive that phone home periodically (via internet) to check to see if the machine is reported stolen. If it is, it transmits location information so the police can track it down. I don't know if this works, but there a seveal companies that sell this software. I don't use it myself.

I am a little concerned about someone "accidentally" running off with my laptop at a security checkpoint (yes, I watch my stuff, but it can still happen) or elsewhere (less likely). I was about to use a thick red permanent marker to put my name on the top of my ThinkPad but I couldn't bare to deface the gleaming black surface. Can you recommend an attractive way to mark the top of my laptop? And anything better than using my name? I'm not sure I want everyone who sees it to know who I am.

I use a multi-colored business card, and I have two each taped prominently to the top and two on the bottom of my ThinkPad. It makes it readily distinguishable from other ThinkPads, and if it got separated -- my name and number are on it.'

If a thief is going to steal it, they won't care about how it's marked.

Another possibility is to buy some wide red plastic tape and put a piece on both sides of the laptop. I do that for my checked bags to spot them on the conveyer. Actually, I use the red/white striped flourescent tape. It also deters baggage conveyer thieves as they wouldn't want to be seen walking away from the conveyer with this extremely bright and noticeable bag, they'd go for the dull black bags that look like everybody else's.

If the secirity lane is the biggest concern, consider one of the separation alarms like

http://www.angelalert.net/

where when half of the device gets too far from the other half, they both start beeping.

LH had(has?) some big luggage tag sized stickers at the checkin counter, and for about 6 months, I had one of those affixed to my laptop. The fact that it was LH yellow made it stand out in a crowd.

I use a small piece of silver duct tape. It makes people think that their is something wrong with my laptop, but it also stands out like a sore thumb.

In my business (aerospace) I got a lot of decals from programs I work on. The top of my Thinkpad is covered with them. They come off pretty easily, and nobody thinks my computer is his. I figure conspicious is better than subtle when you're trying to spot your laptop from meters away.

Wanna get your stuff back? www.stuffback.com

Anybody know of any of these loss protection / recovery services in the UK?

I'm sure I got stuff through with my digital camera which I threw out, but can;t seem to find anything on the net.

I use Stuffbak. They had a free sample sticker in a computer magazine last month.

I eventually decided ot use a Pilot Extra Fine Point Silver Marker. Works pretty well. Much more attractive than red, too.

There are also the software agents you can place on the hard drive that phone home periodically (via internet) to check to see if the machine is reported stolen. If it is, it transmits location information so the police can track it down. I don't know if this works, but there a seveal companies that sell this software. I don't use it myself.

I think only the stupid thieves would get caught by that one. All they got to do is reformat the drive and load a new OS.

I think only the stupid thieves would get caught by that one. All they got to do is reformat the drive and load a new OS.

True, but most stolen machines aren't reformatted and reloaded with a brand new operating system.
There are a many companies that offer this software (google: laptop theft recovery). They all admit that it's disk based and reformatting will kill the program, but they all claim high rates of return.