Που δεν συστήνεται PCPhoneHome

Τι εάν άφησα το lap-top μου στο αυτοκίνητο για μια στιγμή, και κάποιο το έσχισε μακριά; ή, χαθείτε τη σκέψη, κάποιος έσπασε μέσα και πήρε το συμπαθητικό νέο υπολογιστή μου; Συμβαίνει όλη την ώρα, ειδικά στους εταιρικούς και δημόσιους τομείς, αλλά βεβαίως συμβαίνει στους ιδιώτες επίσης. Το ένα σε 14 lap-top κλέβεται, για παράδειγμα μερικοί εμπειρογνώμονες.

Αλλά τι εάν εκείνος ο κλεμμένος lap-top ή υπολογιστής τροφοδοτήθηκε επάνω από τον κλέφτη, κατόπιν σύνδεσε με το Διαδίκτυο, και έστειλε ένα ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο πίσω στον αρχικό ιδιοκτήτη που περιγράφει όπου ήταν; Και τι εάν «κάποιος» θα μπορούσε έπειτα να πει η αστυνομία το όνομα και τη διεύθυνση του κλέφτη;

Αυτός είναι τι PCPhoneHome είναι υποτιθέμενος για να κάνει. Κοστίζει $30, μια μέτρια one-time δαπάνη. Υπάρχει μια έκδοση παραθύρων και μια έκδοση της MAC. Το εγκαθιστάτε στο σκληρό δίσκο του υπολογιστή, και όποτε ο υπολογιστής παίρνει μια νέα σύνδεση με το Διαδίκτυο αυτό στέλνετε ένα ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο σε οποιαδήποτε διεύθυνση ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου που διευκρινίζετε. Αυτό συμβαίνει τακτικά, ημέρα μετά από την ημέρα, και εκτός αν ο υπολογιστής κλέβεται έχει μικρή χρησιμότητα εκτός από να ενημερωθούν ότι λειτουργεί ακόμα. Αλλά εάν ο υπολογιστής κλέβεται, εκείνο το ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο περιέχει τις ζωτικής σημασίας πληροφορίες συμπεριλαμβανομένης της διεύθυνσης IP του υπολογιστή στο τοπικό δίκτυό του, ενδεχομένως, και ειδικά η διεύθυνση IP του κεντρικού υπολογιστή ταχυδρομείου από τον οποίο το ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο στέλνεται πραγματικά. Εκείνη η διεύθυνση IP μπορεί να επισημανθεί πίσω στο χρήστη που συνδέθηκε με τον κεντρικό υπολογιστή ταχυδρομείου εκείνη τη στιγμή.

Το λογισμικό Brigadoon, οι κατασκευαστές PCPhoneHome, υπόσχεται να βοηθήσει με το στόχο τον υπολογιστή και την αστυνομία με εκείνες τις πληροφορίες. Έτσι, για την τιμή $30, αγοράζετε ένα ασφαλιστήριο συμβόλαιο που μπορεί να ανακτήσει τον υπολογιστή σας, που υποθέτει ότι Brigadoon θα απαντήσει πραγματικά στο τηλέφωνό τους και θα επισημάνει το PC, και ότι η αστυνομία θα πάρει το χρόνο να ανακτήσει το PC.

Μεταφόρτωσα τρία δοκιμαστικά αντίγραφα:

Τρέχοντας παράθυρα XP lap-top:

Η έκδοση 3.0 είναι η «τυποποιημένη» έκδοση που οργανώνεται για μια δοκιμή 30 ημερών. Δεν λέει ότι λειτουργεί Vista, αλλά κάνει σε XP. Εγκατέστησε χωρίς τα προβλήματα, συμπλήρωσα τη μορφή με τις λεπτομέρειες του υπολογιστή lap-top μου (κάνετε, διαμορφώστε, serial#, περισσότεροι…) και έστειλε αμέσως το πρώτο ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο του στη διεύθυνση που διευκρίνισα στη μορφή. Το lap-top συνδέθηκε με WiFi, και όταν το σύνδεσα άμεσα με το τοπικό LAN αυτό έστειλε ένα άλλο ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο. Στην πραγματικότητα, στέλνει ΔΥΟ ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία κάθε φορά, με ελαφρώς έναν διαφορετικό ΑΠΌ τη διεύθυνση, για κάποιους λόγους. Κανένα πρόβλημα. So far, after three days, it works just fine.

New home-built desktop running Vista Ultimate 64-Bit:

I knew that Version 3.0 was not recommended for Vista, even though that was the standard trial download from Brigadoon Software. So I downloaded a 3.2 “upgrade” version and tried installing that, with a subsequent comedy of errors:

• First, the installation program failed to run because, according to Windows, I did not have sufficient privileges to run it even though I was logged on as administrator;
• So I clicked on the installation program’s Properties, then Compatibility, and selected “Run as Administrator;”
• Then the installation program went a lot farther, but eventually reported a different error;
• It continued past that error and put up the “registration” screen which takes data to be included in the email that PCPhoneHome sends, but because of the reported error I didn’t bother to fill out the screen;
• Nevertheless, the installer said the installation was successful, though I knew better;
• I uninstalled it (still possible until reboot), and tried again;
• Same results, so I rebooted;
• PCPhoneHome disappeared from the list in Programs and Features - it could no longer be uninstalled. This is a security feature built into PCPhoneHome;
• So I “reverted” the drive to the most recent restore point, deleted one leftover executable, and started over;
• This time, surprisingly, the installation went well. I filled out the “registration” screen and allowed it to reboot the computer.
• After logon, Windows alerted me that an “unknown” program XYZ (I won’t disclose the name here) wanted to run and asked me if that was OK;
• I said yes. Pretty soon I received the two emails. Yay!;
• Sadly, though, upon each succesive reboot, Windows continues to ask whether program XYZ can run;
• I have modified “User Account Control” (UAC) in Windows Vista so that this no longer occurs, but of course this modification is unacceptable for the long term. UAC is a pain in the ass, but it has a purpose and should be turned ON for day-to-day activities.
• I requested a technical service response by email on January 25, but so far have not received any.

Friend’s laptop running Vista Home Edition 32-Bit:

Wow I’m SO SORRY that I tried PCPhoneHome on this computer. I tried downloading the official trial version and installing that first, as most users would do. Of course it didn’t work, because that version is not for Vista, so then I downloaded the upgrade and tried to install that on top of the first install. The resulting comedy of errors totally eclipsed anything that I had encountered with the desktop installation, and it still doesn’t work. I have installed a lot of software on many different machines, but this takes the cake. I have requested a technical service response by telephone and by email, but so far have not received any.

Bottom line: I DO NOT RECOMMEND PCPhoneHome FOR VISTA.

In my opinion, it works fine on XP but is not ready for Vista yet. It phones home on only one of my two Vista installations. There is a workaround for the XYZ “unknown program” prompt at bootup, but that workaround simply trades one security risk for another. Brigadoon Software must fix that problem somehow, perhaps by getting valid “digital signatures” for their software.

Perhaps this is all my fault for installing it on both Vista systems incorrectly. But I don’t think so; I suspect anyone running Vista with UAC turned on will experience similar problems. If true, that’s an astounding failure, since:

• The most-easily-stolen computers are laptops;
• Almost all laptops sold in the last YEAR run Vista;
• UAC is turned on by default in all new Vista systems;
• Brigadoon Software had months BEFORE THAT to prepare for Vista; so
• They are about two years behind the curve and falling further behind daily.

It’s as if Brigadoon is a one- or two-person shop, too busy to take the time and do the testing necessary to make their product really install and run correctly. What happens then, I know from experience, is that you spend so much time dealing with tech service questions that you have no time to fix the product. Meanwhile you are selling more of the junky product and compounding your problems. I’m only speculating here though …

Other Issues:

1. If your computer is stolen and does phone home, will Brigadoon Software actually answer their telephone and trace an email for you? When I called their telephone number this afternoon during regular business hours, I got an answering machine and no callback today. This is not what you want, because the computer may soon evaporate into the black market and never call home again. I see other remarks on the internet which indicate that this is a real question. I will update this post and add a new post when/if I hear from them regarding my pre-sales technical service problems.
2. One very good thing: My computers are set up to require a password for my own logon, to prevent access to my account through the network, and also through the keyboard if the computer were to be stolen. On both the XP and the Vista desktop system, if I booted up and did NOT log on, the computer sent the email anyway. Thus if a thief were sitting at the keyboard trying various passwords, and made the mistake of connecting the computer to the internet first, the email would be on its way.
3. But what if the thief didn’t connect to the internet before logging on? In another part of the FAQ document, Brigadoon goes into great detail to show how to set up a computer so that it will boot up with one account which does NOT have a password. They don’t spell out WHY we should do that, because it obviously reduces the system’s security. But I suppose if I were the thief, I might try each of the usernames on the logon screen, looking for one with no password. If found, I might start with that account, and might even use that account to connect to the internet. Obviously, that account should not have administrator privileges!
4. Brigadoon makes another good point in their FAQ document: It’s important to set up a password to the BIOS of a computer, and then set the BIOS to boot first from hard disk, not floppy or CD/DVD or memory stick. This prevents a thief from using an alternate boot to simply reformat the disk and install a new operating system, thereby obliterating the PCPhoneHome program. In case YOU have a problem with the hard disk, you simply enter the password and change the BIOS back to allow boot from alternate devices. Of course the thief can still remove the hard drive and reformat it some other way, but that’s more work and by then the computer may already have phoned home.

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