A reader asks: “Do I risk damage to my hard disk if, when I travel, I keep it in my bag?”

Posted on by Fred Langa

You can safely transport a hard drive if you avoid the three main classes of “things that can kill a hard drive:”

  1. Avoid physical shocks: make sure the drive won’t be dropped, stepped on, knocked, or otherwise banged about.
  2. Avoid temperature/humidity extremes: Keep the drive dry, at human-comfortable temperatures, and in non-condensing humidity levels.
  3. Avoid significant magnetic or electrical fields.

So: You want to carry a hard drive in a briefcase or backpack on a short trip under more-or-less controlled conditions (e.g. a commute)? Go for it! Just be careful: Put the drive in a paper bag to protect its electrical connections; and avoid drops and jostling.

But if you’re talking about life on the road, or a significant trip, then you really need to take extra steps. Place the drive in the anti-static bag it came in (or buy a replacement), and cushion the drive on all sides with clothes or bubble wrap. If the drive gets cold during travel, let it warm up to room temperature inside the bag, before you use it.

But still, bad things can happen to good drives, so — even if the hotel WiFi sucks — make cloud backups of anything irreplaceable on the drive.

And think about security: What happens if your drive is lost, or stolen, or seized? For safety’s sake, encrypt the hell out of all sensitive files on the drive!

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3 Replies to “A reader asks: “Do I risk damage to my hard disk if, when I travel, I keep it in my bag?””

  1. Pingback: Fred Langa answsers: “Do I risk damage to my hard disk if, when I travel, I keep it in my bag?” @ AskWoody

  2. Dunno if you ever had the experience, but here is a hint:
    Old types of trams have a HUGE magnetic fields close to front or rear ends. Experienced from floppydisc era, when a number of times these sensible storage devices lost data due to this reason.
    So, if in the tram, stay mainly in the middle, and dont place a hard drive at the end sections of the vehicle.

    Reply

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