I am going to Thailand for a year and would like to take my desktop mid-tower as carryon to keep it from getting destroyed as checked baggage. It will fit in a regular carry-on suitcase.

Will the airlines let me do this or are they going to see it as some type of "terrorist device.?"

I want to avoid breaking it down and packing each part if possible.

Also, even though I will back up all my data, is there a risk of the Hard Drives being wiped going through x-ray?

You can imagine them disassembling the PSU, hard disk, floppy drive, sound and net cards at customs and then having problems putting it all back together.  

Would make a great Television advert!    

Are you sure its worth all the bother ??

You can buy a puter here for less than 300 of your English pounds and sell it again before you leave.

Much less effort than carrying yours around and no risk of terminal damage in transit.

You should be ok, but you'll have problems if they ask you to switch it on - as they often do with laptops...

I often take servers and other computer equipment by plane, but i always book them in as 'hold' luggage, and i pack them into a secure case.  So far they have all survived the luggage handlers!!

Simon

I wonder if there would be any issues with just travelling around anywhere in the world with a hard disk.  If you'd be stopped and they'd ask to plug it into a PC to see whats on it.

Has anyone experienced this, not just in Thailand?

I wonder if there would be any issues with just travelling around anywhere in the world with a hard disk.  If you'd be stopped and they'd ask to plug it into a PC to see whats on it.

Has anyone experienced this, not just in Thailand?

You pointed exactly on a question I posed myself.

I use a GNU/Linux Gentoo distro with CFLAGS settings for an Athlon XP, so if they will try to run the system with an Intel it wont works and maybe will question more. What do you think and is it possible to bring a HD with me ?

Sorry for my poor english.  ???