Will x-rays hurt hard drives?

Factual Questions
1

I’m taking my computer with me in checked luggage, but I don’t want to subject my hard drives to harsh treatment, so I’m putting them in some anti-static bags and taking them with me on my carry on.

I have to run them through the x-ray machine they use to scan carry-on luggage. Will this cause any damage?

2

No. Google it.

I’ve put laptops through x-ray machines for years with no problem at all.

3

The magnets in the motors used to drive the conveyor belts are more apt to hurt your hard drive than the X-rays.

4

X-rays can easily damage a hard drive, but not at the level you get from an airport scanner. The airport’s x-ray machine puts out such a low level of x-rays that it won’t even bother photographic film. Don’t worry about it. It won’t hurt your hard drives.

5

Surely the actual magnetic parts are encased in metal. That ought to shield them from the X-rays.

6

Uh, what intensity/kV of X-rays are you referring to? Celestial/stellar? Or more diagnostic/medical/security scan? I have CT-scanned/X-rayed plenty (!) of laptops/towers/etc (for fun/bets) and such, and never had any issues afterwards. Maybe we were plain lucky/ I have also had film fogged (eventually) when it was on other side of X-ray room (using kV of around 90-120, ie ‘scatter’ getting it). Hence the need for the film bins :wink: I am not sure what the security machines use/output, but I’d bet they activate that sensitivity speck somewhat :confused: Or do the machines not use ‘ionizing radiation’, per se?

Now taking a hard drive into an MRI’s field would be ill-advised, imho, but not the OP.

7

It will bother photographic film, just at a level most amateur photographers consider tolerable. Serious photographers, though, will notice the difference, and thus make sure their film is never X-rayed (you can request hand-inspection, if you’re not in a hurry).

8

I noticed they asked people with laptops to set them aside at security so I thought that might be related.

9

Seeing as a Doper had trouble explaining why his computer did not have a hard drive to airport security, I’m not surprised at this answer.