LoJack costs $30 a year, and works on both Windows and Mac computers. In addition to tracking your stolen laptop, LoJack lets you freeze your computer remotely, create a custom message to display on its screen, and remotely erase files from your laptop--a huge plus for business users who might be carrying sensitive documents.

GadgetTrak works with both Windows and Mac machines, and costs $20 a year. GadgetTrak uses Wi-Fi positioning to find the location of your laptop within about 10 to 20 feet, and lets you of your laptop's captor. The software is also tamper-proof, so no one can modify it on the laptop unless you deactivate the software from the GadgetTrak website.

Having laptop-tracking software installed on your portable doesn't guarantee its recovery, and you'll have to combine the software with some (checking your local Craigslist ads for laptop fire sales, for example) in order to catch the thief. But it's definitely a start.

Losing a $1000 piece of machinery is pretty bad, but losing a $1000 piece of machinery with all of your important files on it is much, much worse. If your laptop ends up in the wrong hands, the last thing you want is for all of your data to land there too.