Turn a spare laptop into a guard.
Arm it, look and listen — all from your phone.
Watching over you. Never watching you.
- 1Install — one clickIf Windows warns first: More info → Run anyway.
- 2Tap StartHalo sets the laptop up by itself. No password.
- 3Scan it with your phoneTap Pair my phone on the laptop and point your phone’s camera at the code.
Scan with your phoneControl it from your phoneto open the Master Control Panel, then scan the laptop’s code.Open it on this device
- Plugged in, lid open
- Says out loud when you look
- Your PIN switches it off
Help & settings
Settings to change on the laptop · 5 minutes, once
Do these once, on the laptop that will watch. Leave it plugged in with the lid open — the screen turning itself off is fine. Easiest: install the Halo desktop app — it checks all of these and fixes the power ones with one button. The buttons below open the right page (click Open if your browser asks).
Windows
- Let Halo wake the laptopPress the Windows key and type “Edit power plan” → Change advanced power settings → Sleep → Allow wake timersPlugged in: Enable (On battery: Enable too, if shown)If it does fall asleep, Halo wakes it every 5 minutes to pick up an Arm from your phone.The Halo desktop app does this with one click
- Never sleep on powerSettings → System → Power & battery → Screen and sleep (or “Screen, sleep & hibernate timeouts”)“When plugged in, put my device to sleep after”: Never. The screen can still turn off.A sleeping laptop cannot be armed, and sees and hears nothing.Open power settingsThe Halo desktop app does this with one click
- Closing the lid does nothingPress the Windows key and type “Change what closing the lid does” → When I close the lidPlugged in: Do nothing → Save changesA safety net if someone shuts it. Keep the lid open anyway — a shut lid blinds the camera.The Halo desktop app does this with one click
- Allow the camera and microphoneSettings → Privacy & security → Camera → Let desktop apps access your cameraOn — then the same under Privacy & security → MicrophoneWithout these, Look and Listen from your phone are refused.
- Come back after Windows updatesSettings → Accounts → Sign-in options“Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up after an update”: OnHalo starts when you are signed in. This stops an overnight update leaving it at the login screen.
- Sound on, loud enoughVolume in the taskbarAt least half way, not muted, no headphones plugged inIt says out loud when it is recording; if it cannot hear itself, Look is refused.
Mac
- Never sleep on powerSystem Settings → Battery → Options…“Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off”: On, and “Wake for network access”: AlwaysA sleeping Mac cannot be armed, and sees and hears nothing.
- Allow the camera and microphoneSystem Settings → Privacy & Security → CameraHalo Sentinel: On — then the same under MicrophoneWithout these, Look and Listen from your phone are refused.
- Lid open, plugged inA Mac always sleeps when its lid is shut, whatever Halo doesKeep it open and on charge; the screen turning off is fine.
A work laptop may not allow some of these (your IT department controls sleep and wake timers). A spare personal laptop is far more reliable.
What a laptop can’t do
- Watch while it is asleep or shut down — the app keeps it awake.
- Recognise your phone by Bluetooth — use your PIN, or switch it off from your phone.
- See with the lid shut — a closed lid covers the camera.
Got a spare phone instead? Try Halo Lite in its browser.