So I have a job that will be getting me out of the US. For most things I’m not to worried, except for my computer. What would be the best way to securely move it and also not potentially worry about damaging it?
It’ll be a given that I have an encrypted off-site (cloud) back up, but I’m torn about removing the drives to hand carry and then shipping the chassis. My only worry about that would be customs stopping me because of carrying hard drives… more specifically 3x M.2, which I’m not as worried about and 4x 2.5” SSDs
Thoughts?
https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017
General advice from EFF. A bit dated, but much of what I would have advised is here.
Ok I learnt I’ll never travel there
Carry drives in your carry-on. You are unlikely to be stopped. Worth encrypting them and backing them up remotely though if you are worried about it.
Leave it as is. Get some ESD safe packing material to immobilize any parts that might flex too much (GPU, CPU cooler). Or just remove and pack them.
I think the stuff is called Instapak expanding foam. Personally I think I’d remove the GPU and any mechanical drives to play it safe, but I’ve had a PC shipped to me before fully assembled with Instapak around the GPU (no HDDs, only SSDs) and it was fine. Ideally ship it in the original box for the PC case.
Instapak
Everyone should own one of these.
The Instapak stuff I’m thinking of was basically medium sized bags that acted like a heat pack, where you break something inside the bag to combine two chemicals then shake it, which makes it expand and harden quickly.
unless you’re moving to the middle of the desert, leave “the computer” (desktop? glass case? server rack? windows? linux? what?) behind and just bring the drives, then buy the other stuff locally.
I’ve travelled several times with multiple drives, never been stopped. I put them in USB drive enclosures, makes it look “normal” with the bonus of some mechanical protection.
If the GPU is heavy, consider carrying it seperately. Carry it with an ESD pack
If you have any HDDs, absolutely carry them seperately.
If you’re sure the SSD’s won’t move away in their place,having them on pc shouldn’t cause any problems; but keeping them on your personal belongings is the safest option.
Rest of the components should be fairly safe to ship, maybe the case in weird shapes could cause some trouble; but if you have the foam the case came with chances are it’s not going to cause much problems.
I carried my drives and GPU in my carry on and shipped the PC. That’s what I’d recommend.
When I briefly moved to US end 1990s I put the motherboard and hard drives in hand luggage so I only had to buy the chassis and power supply there. This earned me a wipedown for explosive traces at the control. Asking “this is because of Lockerby, isn’t it?” did not help things.
When I did it recently the hardware (w encrypted data) went through a checked bag inspection but it didn’t really affect anything else. I’m not sure that other countries’ security apparatus is going to threaten people to vacuum up their data like the usa, and in leaving the usa you typically don’t deal with usa customs inspection
I took it with me directly to avoid paying for a big estate transfer service and import tax that would otherwise be assessed by default on a normal shipment
Australia can and does FYI.
If they’re not mechanical droves, why are you worried? They could be thrown around and be just fine.
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