New column -- The case of the stolen laptop

Seems like once a week I hear from someone worried about stolen laptops -- or, worse, just joined the ranks of laptop theft victimhood. The best way to stay out of that club is to keep the thing with you at all times, or leave it in your hotel room when you don’t want to carry it around. Yes, everyone has heard the warnings about hotel room theft, but I’ve never had something stolen from a hotel room and I spend well over 200 nights a year in hotels. You’re far more likely to leave your laptop or PDA or smart phone or USB drive lying on the seat in the taxi or on the counter at the bar as you and your new friend depart for the evening.

So how do you protect your data if the unfortunate should ever befall you? Three features of Windows 2000 and Windows XP can help you keep your information out of the hands of a thief who somehow manages to get hold of your laptop: passwords, encrypting file system, and SysKey. Do realize that if you use these features, you will most likely frustrate the thief so much that he or she will destroy your laptop in anger and disgust, but this is far preferable to seeing the development plans and source code of your next killer product posted on Slashdot.

https://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/secmgmt/sm0205.mspx