There are two things that could happen to my Mac that give me the Georgia Heebie Jeebies. One I’ve got pretty much covered, and the other is the most worrisome.
The first is turning on my Mac and nothing happens. The Mac is dead. Fortunately, I have backups of everything, every song, every video clip, every photo, and every file. Multiple backups, actually.
The second is not being able to find my Mac, either through neglect or theft. That worries me more than backups because loss means someone else found it, and theft means someone else has my Mac– and everything on it.
How can you find your Mac when it’s lost or stolen?
One of the easiest ways is to install Orbicule’s Undercover app on your Mac which comes with a built-in recovery system to help you find it, or help authorities retrieve it. It’s also the most expensive solution.
If you’re on a tighter budget and don’t mind traversing a website circa 1995, check out MacTrack.
A single control panel does most of what you need to setup and use MacTrack.
First, you’ll need to register your Mac in the Lost and Found Registry. After that, MacTrack has a dozen or so steps to go through to help set your Mac up for easier retrieval.
MacTrack runs in the background and captures information about the Mac’s location. It can take snapshots using the built-in iSight camera on Mac notebooks, capture screenshots, even take sound bite recordings, and log whatever is entered into the Mac’s keyboard.
There’s even a built-in Remote Device Wipe option (I haven’t tried that) and a Remote Lock. If your Mac is lost or stolen, simply report it to iTrackMobile to begin the tracking.
There are a few additional features which might goad a theft or finder to return the Mac. These include a personal video, Desktop wallpaper with return information, device labels (I have yet to see a Mac with a Recovery ID sticker), and customizable alert messages.
Compared to other solutions, MacTrack is cheap. Relative to the cost of replacing a lost or stolen Mac, MacTrack is dirt cheap.