Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??

Mel (new to laptops)

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You will be
asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked to remove the
battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad thing. X-Rays are not
an issue.

"MZB" <moo@noway.prudigy.net> wrote in message
news:Zb4Xe.17971$tc7.3900@fe03.lga...
> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can
> I let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>
> Mel (new to laptops)
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Kevin wrote:
>
> Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You will be
> asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked to remove the
> battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad thing. X-Rays are not
> an issue.
>
> <snip>

I've never had to "show the desktop" or "remove the battery."

Notan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

MZB wrote:

> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
> let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>
> Mel (new to laptops)
>
>
99% of the time all they ask is for you to take the laptop out of the
bag its in (assuming you're carrying it with you) and put it in one of
the boxes (usually by itself) to go through the X-ray machine (it will
be fine). Every so often they swab it for residue of chemicals that can
be used for bombs, etc. This is under the presumption you're referring
to security at US airports.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"MZB" <moo@noway.prudigy.net> wrote:
>If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
>let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??

You'll take it out of it's case and send it thru the scanner in a
plastic bin by itself. This let them get a clear picture of the
laptop and it's case individually, which reduces confusion.

Never had them ask to power it up, remove the battery, or anything
else. That's TSA of course, El Al will probably ask you to
disassemble the laptop and checkk the date-codes on the chips. 8*)

Low intensity X-Rays and moderate magnetic fields will not effect it
any.

[Rathole]
In fact, you could lie down on the belt and go thru the X-Ray machine
yourself and only get another dose equivalent to a couple more hours
of flight time. [I measured 194 uR by sending my dosimeter thru in my
carry-on, about 0.2% of the WHO limits for the "General Public".] You
wouldn't want to do it more than about once a day on the average, but
"NewCleeYar Radiation" isn't as evil as some folks think.]
[/Rathole]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Just curious where you fly? I've flown roughly 3,000,000 miles around the
world and haven't had to power on a computer since roughly 1992.

Tom
"Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vy5Xe.36$Da.14629@news.uswest.net...
> Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You will be
> asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked to remove
> the battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad thing. X-Rays
> are not an issue.
>
> "MZB" <moo@noway.prudigy.net> wrote in message
> news:Zb4Xe.17971$tc7.3900@fe03.lga...
>> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can
>> I let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>>
>> Mel (new to laptops)
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 22:22:48 -0400, MZB wrote:

> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
> let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>
> Mel (new to laptops)

My Compaq Presario and IBM Thinkpad notebook has gone through the x-ray
machine without loss of data so I expect the Dell to be OK also.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 04:57:00 +0000, Nicholas Andrade wrote:

> MZB wrote:
>
>> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
>> let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>>
>> Mel (new to laptops)
>>
>>
> 99% of the time all they ask is for you to take the laptop out of the
> bag its in (assuming you're carrying it with you) and put it in one of
> the boxes (usually by itself) to go through the X-ray machine (it will
> be fine). Every so often they swab it for residue of chemicals that can
> be used for bombs, etc. This is under the presumption you're referring
> to security at US airports.

It usually goes through the same process at foreign terminals also. But,
it's rare to see the laptop case get swabbed. I have had to turn on the
laptop but that was only twice in the past 5 years.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

johnny wrote:

> On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 04:57:00 +0000, Nicholas Andrade wrote:
>
>
>>MZB wrote:
>>
>>
>>>If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
>>>let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>>>
>>>Mel (new to laptops)
>>>
>>>
>>
>>99% of the time all they ask is for you to take the laptop out of the
>>bag its in (assuming you're carrying it with you) and put it in one of
>>the boxes (usually by itself) to go through the X-ray machine (it will
>>be fine). Every so often they swab it for residue of chemicals that can
>>be used for bombs, etc. This is under the presumption you're referring
>>to security at US airports.
>
>
> It usually goes through the same process at foreign terminals also. But,
> it's rare to see the laptop case get swabbed. I have had to turn on the
> laptop but that was only twice in the past 5 years.

I've had it swabbed twice in the last four years (since Sept. 11, 2001)
out of roughly 50 or so domestic flights (~4% of the time); it's not a
big deal at all -- only takes a second.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I haven't done any flying recently but a friend just flew from Los Angeles
to Chicago and she was asked to open the battery bay and show the battery on
her laptop. It was sent through the scanner as well. Two years ago an
acquaintance of mine was flying to Australia and he was asked to boot the
machine up and show the desktop as well as remove the battery for
inspection. The TSA, as far as I know, now only requests that you remove
the laptop from any carrying case and run both the case and the laptop
through the scanner. They can ask you to do anything they deem reasonable
to assure safety.

"Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:sreXe.87987$xl6.25922@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> Just curious where you fly? I've flown roughly 3,000,000 miles around the
> world and haven't had to power on a computer since roughly 1992.
>
> Tom
> "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:vy5Xe.36$Da.14629@news.uswest.net...
>> Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You will
>> be asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked to
>> remove the battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad thing.
>> X-Rays are not an issue.
>>
>> "MZB" <moo@noway.prudigy.net> wrote in message
>> news:Zb4Xe.17971$tc7.3900@fe03.lga...
>>> If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security??
>>> Can I let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>>>
>>> Mel (new to laptops)
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:vy5Xe.36$Da.14629@news.uswest.net:

> Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You
> will be asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked
> to remove the battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad
> thing. X-Rays are not an issue.

I travel regularly (almost weekly) with a latitude C640. It's been *YEARS*
since I've been asked to power one up.

You'll almost certainly be asked to remove it from the carrying case and
run it through the Xray by itself. And there is no option for manual
inspection, you MUST run it through the Xray. This is harmless.

- FM -

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in
news:sreXe.87987$xl6.25922@tornado.tampabay.rr.com:

> Just curious where you fly? I've flown roughly 3,000,000 miles around
> the world and haven't had to power on a computer since roughly 1992.


Ditto. The last time for me was '94 or '95, bringing an ancient sewing-
machine-size Compaq "Portable II" back from a construction site in the
middle east (Dubai). I went Dubai-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Orlando, and Customs in
Atlanta had me turn it on. I got everything but a BCS in Atlanta. I'm
guessing they just wanted to see if I'd gutted the Compaq and replaced the
internals with contraband.

- FM -

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Fred Mau wrote:
>
> "Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in
> news:sreXe.87987$xl6.25922@tornado.tampabay.rr.com:
>
> > Just curious where you fly? I've flown roughly 3,000,000 miles around
> > the world and haven't had to power on a computer since roughly 1992.
>
> Ditto. The last time for me was '94 or '95, bringing an ancient sewing-
> machine-size Compaq "Portable II" back from a construction site in the
> middle east (Dubai). I went Dubai-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Orlando, and Customs in
> Atlanta had me turn it on. I got everything but a BCS in Atlanta. I'm
> guessing they just wanted to see if I'd gutted the Compaq and replaced the
> internals with contraband.

Ah, the good old days of worrying about contraband! <g>

Notan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote in news:432E307D.866B59E1@ddress.com:

>> Ditto. The last time for me was '94 or '95, bringing an ancient
>> sewing- machine-size Compaq "Portable II" back from a construction
>> site in the middle east (Dubai). I went
>> Dubai-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Orlando, and Customs in Atlanta had me turn
>> it on. I got everything but a BCS in Atlanta. I'm guessing they just
>> wanted to see if I'd gutted the Compaq and replaced the internals
>> with contraband.
>
> Ah, the good old days of worrying about contraband! <g>
>
> Notan
>


Funny this is - there's no harm telling it now - I actually *WAS*
carrying contraband.

In Dubai, I'd picked up half a dozen 12oz cans of R12 Freon for my car,
which I had stashed in my luggage. R12 had been banned in the US a year
or two earlier (except to certain licensees, which I wasn't) but was
freely available elsewhere in the world.

When I came through customs in Atlanta, they sidelined me and examined
every single item I had. They sent every piece of clothing and every
shoe through an X-ray. They thumbed through every magazine and notebook
in my briefcase. The whole thing took over an hour.

All during this, I'm trying to play it cool but my insides are doing
flipflops, thinking I'm going to end up 5 years in the Jug for illegally
"importing" Freon. Yet they looked right at the cans in my suitcase,
even held them in their hands, and let them slide without ever saying a
word.

Go figure...


- FM -

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Fred Mau wrote:
> "Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in
> news:sreXe.87987$xl6.25922@tornado.tampabay.rr.com:
>
>
>>Just curious where you fly? I've flown roughly 3,000,000 miles around
>>the world and haven't had to power on a computer since roughly 1992.
>
>
>
> Ditto. The last time for me was '94 or '95, bringing an ancient sewing-
> machine-size Compaq "Portable II" back from a construction site in the
> middle east (Dubai). I went Dubai-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Orlando, and Customs in
> Atlanta had me turn it on. I got everything but a BCS in Atlanta. I'm
> guessing they just wanted to see if I'd gutted the Compaq and replaced the
> internals with contraband.
>
> - FM -
From the TSA web site

http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp [...] l_1254.xml

This should help.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Nicholas Andrade <SDNick484@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>I've had it swabbed twice in the last four years (since Sept. 11, 2001)
>out of roughly 50 or so domestic flights (~4% of the time); it's not a
>big deal at all -- only takes a second.

Yeah, maybe it was co-incidence, or my name, but for a while I was
getting The Swab on my laptop case every single segment of every
single flight. Makes me wonder what bit got toggled in my computer
record, but eventually it went away. They consistently claimed it was
random, go figure.

Only takes a few seconds, and you've got that to spare. No biggie.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"William P. N. Smith" wrote:
>
> Nicholas Andrade <SDNick484@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> >I've had it swabbed twice in the last four years (since Sept. 11, 2001)
> >out of roughly 50 or so domestic flights (~4% of the time); it's not a
> >big deal at all -- only takes a second.
>
> Yeah, maybe it was co-incidence, or my name, but for a while I was
> getting The Swab on my laptop case every single segment of every
> single flight. Makes me wonder what bit got toggled in my computer
> record, but eventually it went away. They consistently claimed it was
> random, go figure.
>
> Only takes a few seconds, and you've got that to spare. No biggie.

Back in college (the early 70s), in the height of random drug searches
("Please open your bags and empty all your pockets, sir." ), I was
searched on 13 out of 14 flights that I took.

Clearly, I "fit the profile." <g>

Notan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 08:43:57 -0400, William P. N. Smith <> wrote:

>"MZB" <moo@noway.prudigy.net> wrote:
>>If I travel with my new Inspiron, how do I go thru airport security?? Can I
>>let the machine go thru the x-ray or do they inspect it manually??
>
>You'll take it out of it's case and send it thru the scanner in a
>plastic bin by itself. This let them get a clear picture of the
>laptop and it's case individually, which reduces confusion.
>
>Never had them ask to power it up, remove the battery, or anything
>else. That's TSA of course, El Al will probably ask you to
>disassemble the laptop and checkk the date-codes on the chips. 8*)
>
>Low intensity X-Rays and moderate magnetic fields will not effect it
>any.
>
>[Rathole]
>In fact, you could lie down on the belt and go thru the X-Ray machine
>yourself and only get another dose equivalent to a couple more hours
>of flight time. [I measured 194 uR by sending my dosimeter thru in my
>carry-on, about 0.2% of the WHO limits for the "General Public".] You
>wouldn't want to do it more than about once a day on the average, but
>"NewCleeYar Radiation" isn't as evil as some folks think.]
>[/Rathole]

Good pronunciation. I've heard on the news channels that it accumulates over the years and
if you accumulate enough exposure your chances of getting cancer are increased.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

DaveJohnson12@nomail. wrote:
>I've heard on the news channels that [radiation] accumulates over the years and
>if you accumulate enough exposure your chances of getting cancer are increased.

Google for "hormesis" or non-linear radiation dose response. Don't
believe everything you hear on the news, or in Usenet news, for that
matter, and yes, that includes this post. Do your own research, and
make up your own mind.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Kevin wrote:

> Make sure you are familiar with the operation of your laptop. You will be
> asked to start it up and show the desktop. You will be asked to remove the
> battery. Exposure to magnetic fields would be a bad thing. X-Rays are not
> an issue.

That sounds like old procedures - the last few times I've flown (2003 &
2004), the checkers wanted to see the laptops out of my luggage (didn't
have to turn anything on or remove the battery).