Laptops and Airport X-Ray Machines

[bob4432]

my wife is going out of town this week to a convention and is going to take her laptop. the laptop will be in a carry on bag so it will need to go through the x-ray machine. will it be ok or should she remove it and have the tsa inspect it seperately?

thanks

 

[Oyeve]

No worries, post 9/11 security takes laptops and scans them seperatly at the security check point. Just tell her to tell security she has a laptop and they will take it from there.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
No worries, post 9/11 security takes laptops and scans them seperatly at the security check point. Just tell her to tell security she has a laptop and they will take it from there.

thanks, i have an image of the hdd but that wouldn't help her when she is a couple hundred miles away if the tsa f*cks it up...

 

[alpha88]

My laptop has gone through the X-ray machine many times and I've let them run bare hard drives through it many times as well. My hardware hasn't suffered at all. (Myself, on the other hand, I felt that they should buy me dinner before touching me like that)

 

[Scouzer]

i wouldnt run it through turned on....

but my laptop has been through 8 times and no effect yet

 

[GrammatonJP]

its perfectly safe...

they give you a bin and you put it flat, out of the bag. Goes through.

selective people gets the chemical analysis test, they wipe a pad around the notebook, puts it in a machine and it'll give you a result.. ie if you been touching c4 or others..

i got the chemical test about 2-3 times the past 6 month.. out of 12 times i flew

 

[Scouzer]

i got the chemical test 7/8 times

the one time i didnt was because the lady was not paying attention and didnt even see my laptop

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: GrammatonJP
its perfectly safe...

they give you a bin and you put it flat, out of the bag. Goes through.

i can confirm this as well... my laptop is 3.5 years old and has traveled through many airport security checkpoints... the xray doesn't do anything adversely to laptops or digital cams even

 

[w00t]

ive heard it's safe

 

[corkyg]

It is perfectly safe. Standard procedure today is to remove the laptop and place it separately ina bin. It goes through like that. X-Rays have no effect on magnetic media. The only risk is from EMI due to a malfunctioning machine - but in about 16 trips, that has never been a problem.

Digital cameras are also not a problem. The XRays have no effect in such media unlike film cameras.

The biggest problem I have is needing 3 or 4 hands to do everything.

1. Remove laptop and place in bin.
2. Remove shoes and place in a different bin along with jackets and pocket litter.
3. Remove belt buckle and put it in bin
4. Put camera case in bin, and - don't forget the laptop's case.

The real fun comes when trying to collect all of that and reassemble yourself to move on to your gate. Allow a good 10 minutes to get your act together.

 

[bob4432]

thanks for the info, and i no probs with the chemical test do they test it for meds/drugs too? i am on prescribed oxycontin (prescribed by a pain mang dr) for a neuromuscular disorder and i know i have touched the laptop after taking my meds....if i get a call from my wife about that i will let you know

 

[WackyDan]

I've spent the last 8 years now travelling for my job about 42 weeks out of each year.

It's a non-issue. Nothing changed re: laptops since 9/11 except for taking the laptop out of the carry bag.

After over 1000 individual flights and hundreds of screenings....... Not a ThinkPad lost.

 

[F91Gundam]

It's safe. I had them xray and chem test my laptops 2-3 times a week since I travel a lot.

 

[knght990]

I fly everyday and put my laptop through the x-ray machine on/off open/closed and it hasnt yet been a problem. Once the g-protect on the hard drive enabled from being bounced around in the machine, but thats it.
-TL