![]() Lenovo makes Computrace available as an optional add-on when you order all the current models I've looked at online. In the System log, you'll see the rpcnetp service start up shortly after boot, and then shut down again, presumably after it has phoned home and got the OK not to brick your machine. Regular forum members will know how to find such an expert.Ī few details: If you look at the Windows event log, you can see Computrace at work. The alternative route, for established forum members only:Īlternatively, if you can't get Computrace removed by Absolute Software, you can get it removed by someone with the expertise and equipment required for removing passwords and otherwise working with ThinkPads at a deep hardware level. Call again and tell them the case number. If you spoke to the tech I spoke to the first time I called, it's possible that nothing will happen. ![]() You can then go into the BIOS and set Computrace to be permanently disabled. (The tech I spoke to the first time I called didn't create a case number, and so nothing happened until I called back the next day and spoke to a different tech.)Īnyway, about twenty-four hours after you file the case report, when you turn on the machine and Computrace phones home (as it does every time you boot, when it's enabled and activated), Computrace will disable itself the software it installed from the BIOS will be removed and the original version of autochk.exe will be restored. Make sure you get a case number from the tech, and have him send you an e-mail with the case number on it! If he doesn't volunteer to give you a case number, insist on one. The tech will ask for the machine serial number, and possibly the motherboard serial number. Tell him you bought a used machine with Computrace activated and that you want to have it removed. You'll reach a tech at Absolute Software. All you need to do is call the number that pops up when you go into the BIOS. If your machine is off-lease, and hasn't been stolen, it should be easy to get Computrace removed. Just read this:Ī phone call may be all you need to get rid of it: But I'm not an expert, and you don't need to believe me on this subject. Also, some security researchers report that Computrace is written in a way that gives hackers a potential back door into your machine. It replaces a crucial Windows file (autochk.exe). ![]() It phones home every time it starts up, and the original owner can remotely brick the machine if it's reported stolen. You really don't want someone else's Computrace setup activated on your machine. That "something" could have including flashing the BIOS, or almost anything else. What probably happened to your machine is this (or so I'm told by a Computrace tech support guy): the original leaser or owner had a Computrace contract on the machine the lease expired Computrace was supposed to be disabled in the machine, but something happened to prevent it from being disabled. How it got there and why you want to get rid of it: As you'll see from the replies in this thread, what it says in this post is absolutely correct. ![]() All that advice is the work of trolls, and you'll only waste your time by trying to follow it. Also, in the BIOS, the Security/Anti-Theft settings will show Computrace enabled and activated - and the options to disable it or permanently disable it will be grayed out or inaccessible.Īnd - just to get this out of the way at the start - don't be deluded by the plentiful advice out there for removing Computrace. You'll know that Computrace is activated if a mesage about it pops up when you enter the BIOS. Some of us have bought ThinkPads that come with the Computrace anti-theft service activated. If you find Computrace activated on your machine:
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