By Leo Notenboom

My computer was stolen. It's password protected, what files can the thieves see?

A reader asks: "My mid-tower computer was recently stolen in a burglary. The Windows Vista home ultimate system was password protected at start-up. What files can be accessed by those trying to enter the system?"

It'll take a computer savvy thief about 5 minutes to gain access to everything on your computer.

Yep. Everything.

Everything that you haven't otherwise protected, that is.

There's a fundamental premise that I try to remind people of from time to time. It's simply this:

If it's not physically secure, it's not secure.

So what do you do?

[This post is excerpted with Leo's permission from his Ask Leo blog.]

Leo Notenboom has been involved in the tech industry for nearly 30 years. After retiring from an 18 year career as a Microsoft Software Engineer Leo went on to create Ask Leo!, a free web site where he answers real questions from ordinary computer users.

FaceBook URL: Leo's Facebook

Twitter URL: http://twitter.com/askleo

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