In the next few weeks I will be moving countries to live overseas. My HDDs hold loads of important and personal information that I will, of course, be taking with me. They are pretty new HDDs from IBM (20 gig and 60 gig) so I assume they will take a beating whilst in transport, but should I take them on the plane with me? If so, in my suitcase or in my carry on luggage? If in my carry on luggage can the drives be put through the X-Ray scanners etc? I don't want to loose any data!

The x-ray ouput from the sensors is extremely low, if it is x-rays at all. It doesn't even damage film nowadays. I would worry more about an EMP output than the x-rays. Shouldn't be a problem, though. Definitely use carry on, as they really toss the luggage around on checked stuff. The only problem you may have is that the drives may look like a bomb or other forbidden device. I know they make me turn on my laptop to make sure it is real when I carry it on a plane. All the airports are still very uptight about any electronic devices. You might want to check with airport security beforehand.



"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space".

2 years back i transported an old IBM drive from australia to canada and back again with no troubles.
dont worry about xray scanners, my poor drive went thru a dozen of them.
just wrap them in a big wad of foam, and carry it with you in your hand luggage and try to avoid hard sharp jolts.

dont wrap it up too tight though... some security guys will inevitably want to open the foam package to check out your "terrorist bomb"
ask them nicely not to shake it excessivly.

i do suggest though just to be safe you make things redundant... if your taking 2 drives copy your really important stuff onto both.


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