Carrying a hard disk in an airport terminal [closed]

Solution 1:

External disks are no different that internal disks, in terms of media and components. Laptops have been going through X-Ray machines for decades without incident, so I see no issue with external drives doing the same safely.

Solution 2:

If you're in the US, most airports let you send carry-ons through X-ray machine only - you won't have to worry about the damaging effects of metal detectors. Keep them in a carry-on bag, as Gnoupi suggested, and you should be OK!

Solution 3:

The platters which contain your data are adequately shielded to prevent your data from being damaged by any minor magnetic fields such as those used by metal detectors. In fact, the magnets inside the hard drives are probably stronger than any magnetic field the hard drive will be exposed to in the real world.

As for X-ray machines: as Kevin pointed out, hard drives have gone through X-ray machines for decades without incident.