You walk into your dorm room, the door is wide open and your laptop is missing. No one saw anything suspicious,and there are no witnesses or suspects. How on earth will you find your computer?

Irreplaceable pictures, papers, music and games are gone. In the past if it was stolen, it most likely would not be found, but Quinnipiac offers students Computrace.

Computrace is a type of software that is available for all Quinnipiac supported laptops.

It is important to install because it allows computers to be traced if they are ever lost or stolen.

“It is a theft deterrent and an anti-theft tracking device,” Fred Tarca, Quinnipiac’s director of administration and project management, said. “It consists of software that runs on a lap top computer.”

Current freshman who bought a computer through the Quinnipiac laptop program have to install ComputracePlus onto their computer to protect it from theft.

For computers purchased by upperclassman, the software came preinstalled.

If a student is unsure about whether or not Computrace is installed on their computer they can go to the Help Desk, located in Tator Hall, for assistance.

The Computrace software is an intricate program, which helps recovered lost computers.

“If a laptop is lost or stolen you can call Absolute Software and they will be able to track through the internet where the computer is, providing that the computer called in,” Tarca said.

For a computer to “call in,” it means that the Computrace Software sends the IP address, which is a specific location on the internet.

“The computer sends a signal back to Absolute Software so they know where the computer is located. It is very exact. The software pinpoints the exact IP address where the machine is located,” Tarca said.

There have been some amazing successes with the program, including locating computers abroad.

Frank Villa, manager of academic computing, said there are two reasons why freshmen should activate and take advantage of the Computrace software.

“We think that it is important enough to put on the computers. There are two main reasons for Computrace. One, from a parent’s perspective, it acts as an insurance policy. Two, not only does Computrace increase the likelihood of a laptop being found, it acts as a deterrent of someone stealing a machine,” Villa said.

Laptops purchased this year contain a new feature for stolen computers.

If it cannot be found, Absolute Software reimburses for stolen lap tops.

The reimbursement fluctuates for the age of the machine.

However, the software needs to be properly installed for the locating and reimbursement policy to work correctly, allowing for definite recovery.

If Computrace software is not installed on your Quinnipiac laptop, then you can go to https://www.laptopretriever.com/quinnipiac.asp.