Find a missing or stolen computer with free software from Prey

To start, you will need to download and install the Prey software. Visit the Prey homepage and, when the page appears click the Download now button. If the File Download Security Warning dialogue box appears, click Save and then choose a location for the downloaded file. Firefox users should select Save File to save the download to Firefox's default download folder. Now click the purple Close button in the web browser window.

Now locate and double-click the downloaded file to launch the installation wizard. Work through this, accept the default options and, at the last screen, ensure the ‘Configure Prey Settings' box is ticked before clicking Finish. At the Prey Configurator dialogue box click OK. At the next stage, ensure ‘Setup reporting method' is selected and click Next. Select the ‘Prey + Control Panel' reporting method and click the Next button to continue.

As this is the first time Prey has been launched, select New user and then click Next. At the following screen type in your name, email address and enter a password. Now type in a name for the computer so it can be easily identified later and choose Desktop or Portable from the Device dropdown list. Then click the Create button to open a Prey account. Click the OK button to confirm and then click OK again to close the Prey Configurator.

Prey will now send a confirmation email, so launch your email program and check for the message. When it arrives, open it and click the link in the body of the email to complete the sign-up process. After a moment the web browser will launch and display the Prey login page. Type in the email address and password entered in Step 3 and then click the Login button.

The Prey control panel appears with the device listed - a notebook PC, in our case. To set up how Prey monitors and reports on this PC, click the picture of the device. Scroll down the settings and ensure that the Notify new reports option is set to Yes (as Prey will send emails when it wants to alert you of something) and then set the frequency of the reports to an appropriate number of minutes - the default is 20 which should be fine. To finish setting up Prey, click the Modules link at the top.

Now we need to set up the Report modules that tell Prey what information we want to see should our laptop get lost or stolen. Start by turning the Network setting to On. This opens a selection of options that can help trace a missing computer. Ensure that all three options - Active Connections, Wifi Hotspots and Trace Route are also set to On. Then turn the Session button to On. The key setting here is Get Screenshot, which will allow Prey to surreptitiously grab a picture of whatever is currently being displayed on the PC's screen.

Finally, be sure to set both the Webcam and Geo switch to On. This will allow Prey to take control of your PC's webcam (if it has one) and take a photo of whoever is using the computer, as well as using any nearby Wifi hotspots to generate a Google Map showing an approximation of its location. When done, click the orange Save changes button at the bottom right of the screen. To test it, click the Configuration link at the top again and then set the Missing option to Yes. Then click Save changes.

Prey now believes that our notebook PC is missing and has been set up to report back every 20 minutes. Obviously the information that Prey can deliver depends on whether the PC is being used, has a camera and is connected to the internet. As soon as an internet connection is detected, you will receive an email from Prey confirming that your device is marked as missing. Then, 20 minutes later another will arrive to say that a report is available. Open the email and click the link.

If necessary, sign into the Prey website again. The missing computer will be flagged with a red screen and a large green button next to it labelled ‘New report'. As reports come in, they will be flagged here and listed down the left-hand side. The free version of Prey will store up to 10 reports per registered device. Click the New report button to continue.

If everything is working, here is what you will get. A report that shows the location of the missing computer based on nearby Wifi networks. If the computer has a webcam attached (our missing notebook has one built in), you will even get a photo of the perpetrator. All of this information is recorded covertly, so a thief has no idea what's going on. If the traced computer was stolen, we would strongly advise passing the information gathered by Prey on to the police.