Luggage xray machine causing problems?

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Luggage xray machine causing problems?

I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed before but I have had a few problems with my G4 after going through airport security. I took a trip a few months ago and took my "powered off" G4 out of it's case and let it go through security. When I arrived at my destination it was extremely slow then just wouldn't boot at all. Spent 2hrs at an Apple store and was told something happened to some of the preferences and he deleted some .plist files. Seemed to do the trick until I got home after having gone through another security check - same problem. On my most recent trip through security screening the problem was worse! I then spent 3hrs at the Apple store and finally it was determined I needed to save my entire user folder and reinstall and operating system! I did all that and it was working until ANTOHER airport screening on the way home! Has anyone else ever come across this problem? All the security screeners think I'm nuts!

Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jul 3, 2006 6:50 AM

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Answer 1

iSMH

Level 5

4,310 points

Jul 3, 2006 8:09 AM in response to dedepetro

Why in the world are you taking a G4 tower through an airport? Haha. I can't imagine that. Thank goodness for my Powerbook!

Anyways, I don't think it's possible for an X-Ray machine to harm a harddrive, but I don't know for sure. It does sound like you may have to reinstall OS X, however. Does the machine boot? Can you get your data off of it?

iSMH

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Answer 2

Jul 3, 2006 1:45 PM in response to iSMH

Doubtful it was X-rays causing problem, far more likely magnetic field from motors driving the belt on the X-ray machine.

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Answer 3

AJ

Level 5

7,075 points

Jul 7, 2006 9:00 AM in response to Forrest McElfresh1

Just some general observations based on personal experience:

A few years ago, I had several users go TDY with (Toshiba) laptops.

Every one of them came back dead - would power on, but would not boot to floppy, disk, or CD.

In each case, the BIOS was blank.
Since the machine would not boot, the BIOS could not be (re)flashed.

The common thread was they all went through airport X-Ray.

This was pre 9/11, and (we can assume) they have boosted the power on the machines since then. Some do warn you not to run electronic devices through checked bags, some do not.

I carried a chip based ID card in my wallet. Worked the day before I left for vacation - 1 week and 4 airport security checks later, it was unreadable.

Post 9/11, at...Orlando, I think, I had the opportunity to chat a bit with a security person - who told me they did have one secondary (carry on) inspection xray machine that would without a doubt kill any electronic device that went through it.

That said, I have carried an old PB titanium through security within the last year. They would not allow my to bypass xray (just turn it on and prove it works). Held my breath - made it through without a problem. Ditto my digital cameras.

But machine power may also depend on the airport. Miami's metal detectors are set so sensitive the aluminum foil in a pack of cigarettes will set them off.

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