Laptop possibly bugged by police! Is this a sign that it has a hidden GPS tracker?

[acoster]

Hi

 

Hoping you guys can help me figure this out...

 

I believe my laptop has a hidden GPS tracker, possibly put there by the police (I've been involved in some stuff before
so it wouldn't surprise me if they had done this), let me explain and you'll understand why I'm suspicous.

 

The first sign was noticing that my music would stop playing when walking with my laptop, at first I thought
it was because the lid was closed, but then I performed some tests, I noticed that the music would continue to play
if the laptop was not moving and parallel to the ground with the lid closed, so this made me think that either it
was perhaps having the laptop on its side or the movement was causing the hard-drive to mess up... It wasn't.

 

I then tried playing the music with the lid closed and the laptop parallel to the ground, making sure not to shake the
laptop at all, started walking and 30 seconds later as always the music would stop... (it's always 30 seconds later)
thought ah ok, it's because I'm rocking the laptop forwards and backwards as I walk, so I stood still, shut the lid,
played the music and simulated the motion of walking... Music continued to play...

 

This is the part where I started to become suspicous, because I thought to myself how on earth does my laptop know that
I'm moving around? It doesn't have a WWAN module installed, I've checked inside and seen for myself that it's not there,
my laptop also wasn't connected to WiFi... Opened Maps and tried finding my current location but it was unable to find me,
so it doesn't have GPS capabilites that I'm unaware of.

 

I cannot find a single explanation for this, nor do I understand why the music would stop playing anyway, if a genius could
come along and explain it all for me I'd appreciate it, I feel like I'm being stupid and missing something...
Obviously I will verify that what you're saying is correct since you could be the police trying to trick me into ignoring it
XD I'm a bit paranoid

 

I will get to the bottom of this, even if it means taking apart the laptop to find the tracker... If there is no logical
explanation for this and it does suggest a hidden GPS tracker I would appreciate any help I can get to locate it.

 

Also I haven't made any mistakes during testing, I've verified that the lid was shut, and done the tests multiple times,
oh and I tried 3 different media players, also I forgot to mention that the music would start playing again if I stopped walking
and would stop again after walking.

 

P.S. Please don't ask about why the police would want to do that, thank you

 

Cheers for the help!

 

Model no. HP Elitebook 8460p

Windows 10

[aisle9]

Actually walking is very different from simulated walking. If your laptop has a HDD, it's probably being jostled around and either turning itself off to protect from damage or being turned off when the drive scratches. If it really bothers you, either use your phone or buy a new laptop.

[Levent]

GPS transponders usually are not connected to computer and even if they are they really low power draw devices and you wouldnt even notice it for a long long time. (ask me how I know)

Its really easy to spot GPS trackers too, they really stick out compared to computer components.

[aisle9]

3 minutes ago, Levent said:

GPS transponders usually are not connected to computer and even if they are they really low power draw devices and you wouldnt even notice it for a long long time. (ask me how I know)

Not to mention that it would be really hard to install one at the motherboard level, and really easy for OP to spot if they opened up the laptop. There are much easier ways of tracking someone.

[Jurrunio]

Nah just probably stuff gotten loose over time and things just dont work properly when it's moving. You can test this theory by shaking it when sitting/standing still

[Dedayog]

Yep, the incredibly astute and tech savvy police have a GPS tracker on your laptop that ALSO stops your music after 30 seconds.  Cuz they also love fucking with you!

 

I'm fairly sure they're not tracking you, but if they were they'd do it in such a way to not cause an issue like that.

 

Love the paranoid criminals

 

8/10 for the story. Thank you!

[schwellmo92]

You need to lay off the drugs brother, the police haven't placed a GPS tracker inside your laptop and if they did why would they make it pause your music after exactly 30 seconds? Weirdest theory ever.

[acoster]

Ok so 2 of you have said about that it could be the hard-drive being shaken about, I've already said that I simulated walking (I walk with it next to my side, not inside a case, and I don't swing my arms that much like some people), I will however put the theory to the test and violently shake it whilst standing still because perhaps the simuation I performed was not good enough.

 

2 of you have said that a GPS tracker would stick out like a sore thumb due to it's size... However I believe you have just googled "GPS tracker" and seen the ones available to buy online, you would assume in this day and age they would be able to create one the size of a pea, if you take a look at the ones online they are a quarter of the size of most phones... Take a look at this one: https://www.acalbfi.com/se/articles/articlesContentPage/OriginGPS-launch-world-s-smallest-GPS-module/NA-000539

 

"OriginGPS have launched the Nano Spider (ORG4400), a fully integrated, highly sensitive GPS receiver module.

 

Measuring only 4.1 x 4.1 x 2.1mm and with minimal power consumption, the Nano Spider is an ideal match for smart watches, wearable devices, trackers, and digital cameras. A double-sided circuit design reduces footprint size and makes the Nano Spider 47% smaller than previous solutions."

 

As for the music stopping, I have an idea... Perhaps the GPS tracker is attached to the speakers, they most likely picked the speakers because they assumed I wouldn't walk and play music, I'm no expert at this kind of thing so I can't say for sure... One thing I can't figure out is how to stop it from happening, if it were just a Windows problem... The speakers would be ideal as hardly anyone plays music on their laptop whilst walking... Could they be using the speakers to emitt a high frequency tone, I've heard before that they can essentially turn speakers into a microphone, and also can be used to locate, I'm just speculating.

 

I will try shaking and rocking the laptop as much as possible to test the theory that it's just the hard-drive, if that doesn't cause it to happen then I'm opening the laptop and going to try to find it.

 

I'll post back my results.

 

Edit: If it does turn out to be the hard-drive, they should add this to the list of reasons to upgrade to an SSD.

[Dedayog]

You're incredibly focused on the cops planting a GPS unit in your laptop, aren't you?

 

Regardless of what you've done, what is the point of it?  To know where your laptop goes?  You can go places independent of it.

 

Will it track usage?  Keylogger would be more beneficial I would think.

 

Also, how the music stopping is related to a GPS unit you still haven't explained.

 

All this is assuming you're not paranoid and delusional... which I think you are.

[acoster]

1 minute ago, jstudrawa said:

You're incredibly focused on the cops planting a GPS unit in your laptop, aren't you?

 

Regardless of what you've done, what is the point of it?  To know where your laptop goes?  You can go places independent of it.

 

Will it track usage?  Keylogger would be more beneficial I would think.

 

Also, how the music stopping is related to a GPS unit you still haven't explained.

 

All this is assuming you're not paranoid and delusional... which I think you are.

 

XD I may be paranoid, but rather open-minded than delusional.

 

I don't understand why they would want to know where it goes, I have a few ideas but I can't say for sure... It could be so they can find it incase I claim it went missing, it could be so I don't try something like putting the laptop inside a washing dryer for example (run an extension lead from within and connect the washing dryer and laptop to the extension cord inside, so it appears to be an ordinary washing dryer), or maybe to see if I take the laptop to a discrete location and run another operating system on it from a seperate device.

 

Either way, if shaking the laptop doesn't cause the problem to occur then somehow my laptop knows when it's moving, and I will find out.

[DianeLeigh]

Really if police wanted to track you, they'd put something in your car... or use your cell phone.  

 

Besides, they could find your laptop from software similar to how the pc/websites/etc know where you are (even if it tracks wifi hotspots).  And even then there's no guarentee you'd have it on you at all times.  Other methods would be easier and more accurate.

 

 

[Dedayog]

Just now, acoster said:

 

XD I may be paranoid, but rather open-minded than delusional.

 

I don't understand why they would want to know where it goes, I have a few ideas but I can't say for sure... It could be so they can find it incase I claim it went missing, it could be so I don't try something like putting the laptop inside a washing dryer for example (run an extension lead from within and connect the washing dryer and laptop to the extension cord inside, so it appears to be an ordinary washing dryer), or maybe to see if I take the laptop to a discrete location and run another operating system on it from a seperate device.

 

Either way, if shaking the laptop doesn't cause the problem to occur then somehow my laptop knows when it's moving, and I will find out.

So you have State's Evidence on your laptop so important they need to track it if you say its missing?  

 

Or you routinely put electronics in washing machines and dryers to turn them into really heavy computers?

 

Or you... shit I can't even make any sense of the last one.  Why?

 

Being open minded is one thing, I am still going with delusional.  Even more so now.

 

 

[acoster]

Boy do I feel stupid! I would rather keep an open mind than completely ignored it.

 

Turns out it was the shaking which was causing the music to stop, it wasn't the rocking, it was the bouncing up and down as I walked.

 

Purely stupidity, I should have tested further rather than just rocking it backwards and forwards.

 

*facepalm*

[Donut417]

9 hours ago, acoster said:

I believe my laptop has a hidden GPS tracker, possibly put there by the police (I've been involved in some stuff before
so it wouldn't surprise me if they had done this), let me explain and you'll understand why I'm suspicous.

If your in the US, I highly doubt your local police force has a GPS unit that could easily be concealed in the laptop. Remember Local Law enforcement dont have access to military grade hardware. If a tracker is present then your looking at the Federal Level. FBI, DEA, ATF, ect. If the tracker is very sophisticated then its most likely the CIA or NSA as they would have the more sophisticated hardware outside the US military. 

 

So unless you committed a Federal crime then your probably OK. 

[Dedayog]

2 hours ago, acoster said:

Boy do I feel stupid! I would rather keep an open mind than completely ignored it.

 

Turns out it was the shaking which was causing the music to stop, it wasn't the rocking, it was the bouncing up and down as I walked.

 

Purely stupidity, I should have tested further rather than just rocking it backwards and forwards.

 

*facepalm*

Wow, that's a hell of a twist of words!!!  Ignored it?   What, ignoring your incredibly paranoid delusion?  You can't even see how insane that was to think what you thought?

 

You're a step away from being on the news.

[Slayerking92]

Is the HP smartprotect software installed?

 

https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c02502605

 

HP Notebook PCs - Use ProtectSmart to Prevent Hard Drive Damage

 

This document pertains to HP Notebook PCs using Windows 7.

Before you move the PC, HP recommends that you either shut it down or initiate Sleep or Hibernation. However, in the event that the PC is shaken or dropped not in Sleep or Hibernation mode, ProtectSmart will park the hard drive to attempt to prevent damage. ProtectSmart protects your hard drive by using a device to measure movement called accelerometers that are placed inside your PC.

[acoster]

On 6/20/2019 at 5:57 PM, Slayerking92 said:

Is the HP smartprotect software installed?

 

https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c02502605

 

HP Notebook PCs - Use ProtectSmart to Prevent Hard Drive Damage

 

This document pertains to HP Notebook PCs using Windows 7.

Before you move the PC, HP recommends that you either shut it down or initiate Sleep or Hibernation. However, in the event that the PC is shaken or dropped not in Sleep or Hibernation mode, ProtectSmart will park the hard drive to attempt to prevent damage. ProtectSmart protects your hard drive by using a device to measure movement called accelerometers that are placed inside your PC.

 

No it's not, unless Microsoft have their own version which is used if HPs version isn't.

 

Thanks for the idea, but I'll just upgrade to an SSD, it's an upgrade I was planning on anyway.

[Tzomb1e]

My question is more out of curiosity...is it normal for people to walk around with music playing out of their closed laptops?  I am not sure I have ever seen that...sitting and working on the laptop and letting music play, sure, but never carrying it around like a boombox!  I know not everyone can afford bluetooth headsets, high end smart phones, or whatever else...I just thought I would ask!  No judgement, just curiosity. 

 

Also, go with the SSD...not only will it be mostly unaffected by movement, but it will also speed things up for you.