How to find your lost Windows Phone
Somehow
you lost your Windows Phone. It might have been stolen, or it could be
down the back of a chair in your local pub. How will you get it back?
Hopefully, you enabled the native Find My Phone setting before you were
separatedyour phone. If you did, you can now use the web-based service
to retrieve it.
Impact of a lost Windows Phone
It
might be the opinion of some that a lost Windows Phone device isn'tthat
big a deal. After all, they're not exactly iPhones or Samsung Galaxys,
are they?
Well, that's not really an argument.
Regardless of the operating system, Windows Phone 8 handsets have a
high specification, especially those produced by Nokia. While the
operating system isn't so bloated that it has a need for anything above a
quad core CPU at present, there are other aspects to consider, such as
high definition displays, storage space and battery life.
When
it comes to Nokia devices, then there is also the added element of the
camera, which is supported by a Carl Zeiss lens and superb image
processing software and the selection of impressive camera apps. Phones
such as the Nokia Lumia 920, 925, 1020 and higher have remarkable
cameras as good as - if not better than - those on other devices.
Your
lost Windows Phone might contain your personal data. It might have a
collection of recently-snapped photos, vital emails and documents and
apps that are a lifeline to your work. Losing a Windows Phone can be as
devastating as losing a phone running any other productive operating
system - with cloud applications installed, it could be as risky as
losing a desktop computer.
Enabling the Find My Phone service
While
you won't find any third party tracking appsPrey for Windows Phone,
Microsoft offers the Find My Phone service for Windows Phone owners. The
service is the same for Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 devices,
and requires that you enable the options in Settings > Find My Phone.
The service uses triangulation technology to locate it, so you don't
need to worry about having mobile Internet activated - as long as the
phone isn't in airplane mode, everything should work fine.
Finding a lost or stolen Windows Phone device
With
the Find My Phone option enabled (see above), you can launch the
retrieval process whenever you lost sight of your
device.muo-wp8-findmyphone-loginThe first thing you should do is log
into www.windowsphone.com and Find My Phone via the drop-down
menu.muo-wp8-findmyphone-mapYou will then see a map, and the approximate
location of your phone will be displayed. Various factors affect the
precision of this feature; for instance, if the phone was stolen, it
might still be in transit, which makes it tricky to find until it stops
moving.
Once you knowyour phone is geographically, there are three things that you can do to retrieve or disable it.
Ring your phone
If
your phone is somewhere close by, the sensible approach would be to
ring it. Of course, on the off chance that you don't have another phone
to hand, or cannot guarantee you will find it before the phone rings
out, Find My Phone offers a useful Ring feature, which sends an
instruction to your Windows Phone to play a special ringtone reserved
for this purpose.
You shouldn't have much
trouble tracking down the handset with this feature, as long as it's
within hearing distance. This alert also plays at full volume,
overriding vibrate mode or low volume settings.
Remotely lock your phone
Of
course, the situation may be more desperate; it could be that your
phone is in the hands of someone you do not trust, or has been left in a
positionit can easily be found.muo-wp8-findmyphone-lockThe Lock option
allows you to display a custom message on your phone's screen and set a
new 4-digit PIN that will be required to unlock the device. You will
also have the option to ring the phone when it is locked, so that it
attracts attention.
Given that the majority of
people are honest, there is a good chance that the device will be
spotted, the message read and your Windows Phone will be returned. We
can think of seven reasons why someone might return your lost phone, so
don't be disheartened - your phone may well come back.
Erase your Windows Phone
The
final option is, of course, the most devastating. In order to protect
your data (including access to more information via your phone's
SkyDrive app), you should use the Erase tool to remotely reset your
phone. This reverts the handset to factory settings, and will result in
the Find My Phone service being unable to track
it.muo-wp8-findmyphone-eraseNaturally, this is only for desperate
situations, and for you to use the erase option you must check the box
labelled I'm sure! Please erase my phone now before proceeding with the
Erase button.
Tackle thieves with this native Windows Phone app!
The
Windows Phone tracking app is simple to use, enabling you to quickly
find, trace and if necessary, erase your device should it be lost or
stolen. If you've prepared your device correctly and perhaps sent a
polite screen message, someone might find and return it. After all, it's
not that hard to return a lost phone.
For the best results with this service, however, you should put yourself in a position of never having to use it.
Source: Christian Cawley, makeuseof.com
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