This has been covered well by others, so the only think I will add is that they realized some time ago that if you were smart enough to place a bomb in a laptop, then you were smart enough to figure out how to have the damn thing turn on regardless. So powering on per se proves NOTHING. What they may do, and routinely do in Canada (so your results may vary), is that they will test the laptop with a special swabbing cloth (no damage to the machine) and then scan for any traces of explosives or whatever else they look for. Takes about 15 seconds. No biggie. And in my experience - random.That is why you have to take it out of the case or luggage, but you will not be required to turn it on under any normal circumstance.
Michael "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Nine years ago, when boarding a plan in San Juan, I was asked to boot a laptop I was carrying with me to prove it was what it appeared to be. Tomorrow I want to take a laptop with me on a flight to Indianapolis. My concern is that the "on" button is very worn and sometimes it takes some effort to power it up. This would be disastrous if I had to do it with hundreds of passengers waiting behind me in line. Recent inquiries both personal and on line have failed to uncover any knowledge of being asked to do this in recent times. Does anybody have any experience with this? I travel relatively seldom, and almost never with a laptop. Thanks! --John Emmerling ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************
