Travelling with my laptop... a joy and a pain in the rearend!

Having just lost a 3G drive on my laptop due to the many (and increasing)
airports who demand that laptops be put through the scanner instead of
hand-inspected, the bad spots on the disk start showing up.

On my last trip, I tried taking out the hard drive and having them hand
inspect it (it fits in the palm of your hand for cryin' out loud).  No
dice.. can't open and inspect the insides.  Of COURSE you can't inspect the
insides - who would WANT them to!

So, insist on hand inspection (which should require that you power it on,
then power it off), and if that dosen't do the trick, ask for a supervisor
and tell them that you will hold the security firm and airport responsible
for any lost data if forced to put it through the scanner.  It usually works
because they want to get you through, so they'll ask you to turn it on,
watch for the POST display, then you can turn it off.  It's faster that way.

(Oh, and you might want to leave for the airport earlier, you'll need the
extra time at the security checkpoint).  I always leave myself one hour at
airports in large cities, and at least 30 minutes in smaller cities and
towns -- and this is AFTER check-in) and it hasn't failed me yet.

Sp, even if they tell you it's safe (and they will) - 'JUST SAY NO'

Joe (still restorin' stuff from his last trip onto the new disk drive)