Is it safe taking a hard drive on a plane?

Forums › Desktop computing › Is it safe taking a hard drive on a plane?

PaulZA

314 posts

Ultimate Geek

#105112 27-Jun-2012 17:37

Hi guys, flying down to Christchurch in less then a week.

I need to take one of my hard drives with me. I bought a cheap external enclosure, but I've been worried sick in the past when I've taken hard drives with me on a plane, when I plug them in again once they've reached their destination they appear to have failed. Just wondering if it was a coincidence, or if there is some risk taking a hard drive on a plane, since it's a 1TB HDD, and I if I lost any data on it, I'd be devastated as it has quite a substantial amount of music, and the usual stuff. Also read something about the X-ray machine could also be bad for it.

Thanks

1 | 2

4705 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#647133 27-Jun-2012 17:40

Several million travelers every day board a plane with their laptop. Yet to see a class action lawsuit against HDD manufacturers from travelers so it's just coincidence. Of course you keep throwing your hard drive around in the bag and hits something solid, then the platters could stop working.

Do whatever you want to do man.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79288 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#647135 27-Jun-2012 17:46

If you are that worried, copy the contents to a service like Windows Live Skydrive, or Dropbox and take the drive with you. If anything happens (shouldn't) you still have a copy.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#647136 27-Jun-2012 17:46

coincidence nothing else

Jaxson

8042 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#647158 27-Jun-2012 18:17

Wrap it in tinfoil first.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#647162 27-Jun-2012 18:23

To be save, leave it for a few hours before you plug it in.

RunningMan

8955 posts

Uber Geek

#647163 27-Jun-2012 18:24

Jaxson: Wrap it in tinfoil first.

I think it works better it you wrap yourself in tinfoil.

Jaxson

8042 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#647168 27-Jun-2012 18:35

RunningMan:
Jaxson: Wrap it in tinfoil first.

I think it works better it you wrap yourself in tinfoil.

Sorry, I took that as a given, but yes, definitely wrap yourself in tinfoil too, especially your man bits, and your luggage and whilst you're at it, your dog still at home whilst you're away too. Never can be too safe.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

gzt

17134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#647255 27-Jun-2012 21:01

PaulZA: I need to take one of my hard drives with me. I bought a cheap external enclosure, but I've been worried sick in the past when I've taken hard drives with me on a plane, when I plug them in again once they've reached their destination they appear to have failed.

There are some cheap and nasty enclosures around having a high failure rate.

Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek

#647540 28-Jun-2012 12:06

Not if you throw it at the pilot.

hairy1

3332 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#647549 28-Jun-2012 12:18

Throwing it at the pilot will result in a failure of the hard drive.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

vexxxboy

4244 posts

Uber Geek

#647566 28-Jun-2012 12:43

hairy1: Throwing it at the pilot will result in a failure of the hard drive.

Throwing it at the pilot will result in the failure of the flight

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Jaxson

8042 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#647579 28-Jun-2012 13:10

vexxxboy:
hairy1: Throwing it at the pilot will result in a failure of the hard drive.

Throwing it at the pilot will result in the failure of the flight

Maybe not if the pilot was wrapped in tinfoil too

Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek

#648149 29-Jun-2012 12:39

Jaxson: Maybe not if the pilot was wrapped in tinfoil too

Curses!

"foiled" again!

hairy1

3332 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#648166 29-Jun-2012 13:04

Us pilots tend not to wrap ourselves in tinfoil. It plays havoc with the psychokinetic autopilot. The flight deck security door tends to keep the hard drives out.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Jaxson

8042 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#648169 29-Jun-2012 13:06

Chainsaw:
Jaxson: Maybe not if the pilot was wrapped in tinfoil too
Curses! "foiled" again!

Actually this raises a pretty relevant side issue actually. you see in order to stop getting cheek and ear cancer I've started wrapping my cellphone in tinfoil, but being a touch screen model, it's now quite hard to use properly and the signal doesn't seem as strong as it used to be.

1 | 2