2210 theft

[Dilldog]

Some total scumbag stole my iPAQ from my desk at work this week :evil:

I used the password protection that is built in - how secure is that?

From what I remember all they have to do is just let the battery run flat and bingo! blank iPAQ.... :cry:

Does anyone have any tips for my next one - like remote detonation?

[delfuhd]

Well, I don't work at an office or anything, I'm in high school, but I had a Palm VII my freshman year (im a senior now) and I lsot if one day and had no idea how I lost it.. I was bummed. But I've had a couple ppc's since then, and never lost one because I made it an unforgettable habit of making sure it was in my pants pocket or a coat pocket after every period. I'm sure it's not very convenient for someone at work to constantly carry it around at work when they have a desk to put it..
Well anyway, I never ever leave it alone (in school), and I don't really show it off to people (except my trusted ppc friends), so I keep it low key. Good luck on your next ppc!

[ludzh]

My worst nightmare! I honestly never thought about how any scumbag would have the option to simply run down the battery to gain a new iPAQ. Now I'm more nervous than ever. We invest alot of $$ in our PPCs!

I'd like to extend my sympathies to you. Just remember, what comes around goes around and that scumbag thief will get his - or hers- in the end.....

--Heather

[Jacob]

Well, that truly is terrible!

I would definitely report it to the higher ups in your company just so they know this is going on.

There have been cases of people wandering into companies just to find laptops and other electronics unsecured. :(

[JustinGTP]

My dad had this problem when Laptops first came out. He had a company laptop that was on his desk, and the company had new furniture come in and the deliver guys took care of removing the old furniture and the laptop :| Oh well, my dad bought his own then, that made him happy. This was about 7 years ago, so that stolen laptop is worth nothing now.

-Justin.

[Dilldog]

I took my laptop into the meeting - I'd much rather that went - it's a Dell and I hate it!!!!

[Dilldog]

HP should put password stuff into permanent memory like the file store so that even if you do run the battery out the password is still there....

I guess they are just not secure.

And the data on my SD card will still be there too :cry:

[JustinGTP]

No, they wont be able to get at information on your iPaq without hacking into it and getting past the password. I doubt anyone would do that. However, they can see data on the SD Card if that card is inserted into a Card Reader on a PC.

If they run the battery down, the unit will HARD RESET, that means it is back to how it came, no password.

When people say this, it means that it is basically new - you can also perform a hard reset by pressing certain buttons and inserting the stylus into the hard reset hole.

-Justin.

[Archie]

It happened this week's Tuesday. I was in Istanbul, Turkey, covering the NATO summit for my media company. About 4 PM, I was walking beside a major road just some 200-300 m from the immediate summit area - The NATO Valley, as they liked to call it, area in the city center which was totally fenced off and secured by some of the 23 000 police and other forces providing security during the summit.
I had my iPaq hanging from my neck, in a Sena case and beltclip which I put on a neck-ribbon, like some people do with their mobile phones. Also I had my summit security pass there.
Apparently, hanging the iPaq this way was a grave mistake. Suddenly, a boy not older than 15-17 grabbed my iPaq, something cracked and he got it. He ran fast away to a small street behind, downhill.
I ran as fast as i could after him, shouting (in English) "Thief! Grab the thief! Police!" Or something like this. But he gained distance. It took only a few seconds. I already lost my hope. There were few people on the street.
Then suddenly my iPaq was on the street, and the thief-boy ran away on opposite direction. A bearded man with big moustache, in casual civilian clothes stood beside my iPaq. He took it, muttered something then gave it to me.
I was very excited, but I tried to thank him and offered him some turkish money. He only shaked his head and showed me his police badge from his pocket.
Well, I say that my iPaq is now officially called Enver, in honour of the brave Turkish policeman who saved it. I'm sure this was not a good day for the %&$#* thief and at least he got a little bit discouraged. Maybe he'll think twice before hitting again. My iPaq is in perfect shape, no damage at all. The beltclip was not so strong, it is now in two pieces, apparently not broken, but just disassembled by thief's pulling hand. I'll see if I can put it together again.
The side-effect was that I injured my left leg during the sudden sprint and the voyage home the same night was quite painful. But I was still happy because my very precious and important iPaq was not in the hand of thief but securely in my bag. I also had quite a bit of work, briefing and other notes from the summit in it. I would hate to lose it.

[dunneldeen]

Most of us (at least that's what I'd like to hope) backup our internal memory to SD or CF card regularly so that if our precious handheld breaks, or hard resets, we can easily restore and be on our way. This, however, doesn't protect you at all from losing data to theft or loss of your handheld.

Makes you think. I do make some effort to backup the contents of my SD and CF cards to my desktop, but maybe I should do it more often.

[Chris Spera]

As I recall with my 5455 (which was password and finger print secured), the password survives a hard reset. (someone correct me, if I am wrong...)

So, even if they let the battery go dead and recharged it, they still wouldn't be able to get past the password unless they were an uber hacker.

You may actually get it back from the person who "borrowed" it from you... maybe the same guy too my power supply!!

HEY! I think I'm on to something!

[OskiO]

whenever I have hard reset my 4150 (done 3 times so far) it never has come back on and asked me for my password.

[milkman dan]

I am pretty sure you can get around any password with a hard reset, as passwords are easy to forget and you wouldn't want to write off a brand new device simply becuase you forgot your password. That is a sucky deal though, I've only had someone break into my house and steal my main PC before, but I can still feel your pain. If someone stole betty (my 2215) I would snap!

[Kowalski]

Archie i am very sorry about what happened you here in Turkey. Istanbul is a nice city but there has always been this kind things everywhere else but since the security was too high i am happy that you got your precious ipaq back. I hope you liked your visit here in Turkey and come back later for another visit

[milkman dan]

hey, I never knew you were from Turkey, I truly envy you! Turkish saz players are bloody amazing!

[Archie]

Than you Kowalski, I'm quite sure that I'll visit Turkey again sometime, this was only my second visit in 10 years. Istanbul is indeed very beautiful city, much to see there, only next time I'll try not to show my iPaq so openly :wink: But the policeman who saved it deserves high regards.

[Kowalski]

beliave me i've never seen this much security befoure. and i am glad it worked.
you should see the great historical places and buildings left us from Osmanli empire. they are all over the city, well protected and taken care of as well as with the buildings and religious places left from christians.

hey, I never knew you were from Turkey, I truly envy you! Turkish saz players are bloody amazing!
funny, if you look below my avatar you will see written Location: Istanbul, Turkey. you dont know i am Turkish but you know i am a saz player.
i dont remember that i mentioned this befoure :roll:

[milkman dan]

funny, if you look below my avatar you will see written Location: Istanbul, Turkey. you dont know i am Turkish but you know i am a saz player.
i dont remember that i mentioned this befoure


? I never said you were a saz player, I said "Turkish saz players are bloody amazing!" Ive only seen three in person doing live shows at a small restaurants in BC but they were some of my favorite performances of all time

[Kowalski]

sorry, i've misunderstood.
i am glad that you liked our traditional music,