Tracing a computers previous logged on locations

[Dizzyd43]

If i found a computer on the street and it had no information on the owner or previous user, is it possible to to then find and locate where it had been used and thus a possible owner?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Perhaps but it depends on the OS and what kind of logging they had active.

 

[kote]

If we're talking theoretical possibility - unless data is scrubbed from a hard drive, traces can usually be recovered. If you simply format over a drive that has a browsing history on it or personal files, that data can be recovered. Secure delete programs exist to help with this. In reality no one will probably care nearly enough to try to do anything like this.