Do airport screening machines damage laptop computers?

Hello,

From a release sent to airports around the country (linked below),
X-ray machines do not inherently damage laptops themselves, nor do the
rays damage magnetic disks such as internal hard drives, floppy disks,
and zip disks. The damage comes from the rollers that send items
through the machine, and the impact damage of hitting the walls upon
exiting the machine. To minimize damage to your laptop, ask that it be
put in an item bin before being sent through the machine, and wait at
the exit of the machine to "catch" it before it rolls down the ramp
and hits anything. This was in response to a specific incident where a
person's laptop was damaged by the rollers (linked below).


Additional Links:

Protecting Laptops at Airport Security:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V54862221

Longer newspaper article citing the information release, and the
incident leading up to it:
http://www.commoncriteria.org/news/newsarchive/Nov01/nov17.htm

Search Strategy:

x-ray laptop damage on google:
://www.google.com/search?q=x-ray+laptop+damage


Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question, if you require
more information, please clarify the question, or if you find this
answer satisfactory, please feel free to rate it. Thank you!
    
skermit-ga

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Clarification of Answer by skermit-ga on 11 Jul 2002 23:47 PDT

Was my answer satisfactory for your needs? Please take the time to
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skermit-ga

Wait for the exit of the scanning machine to be clear of other people
before sending your item through. If there is a crush of people ahead
of you, someone else may pick up your laptop - perhaps
unintentionally, perhaps not.

Owain