Singapore Expats

Hi
the question is quite clear
do customs check contents of laptops or external hard drives looking for pirated music, movies, software, porn etc .. in singapore airport ?
thanks
Z.

No. But they could. It would depend if they have a tip or 'tell' about a particular person.

reminds me of how some people (not OP) commit some shenanigans and would brag and be all smug about it.

and be surprised--no, nay, SHOCKED--when caught.

I would say that is a quite unlikely event, but it might happen. Chances are very low, but consequences can be high, so it's up to you to gamble.

I don't know anyone that got his HD checked, I just know 2 people who were asked to switch on the laptop (probably something wrong during X-ray scanning and they were asked to prove that was a normal working laptop), but of course they can do, especially, as SE said, if there is any "hint" for the custom officers

Asdracles wrote:I would say that is a quite unlikely event, but it might happen. Chances are very low, but consequences can be high, so it's up to you to gamble.

I don't know anyone that got his HD checked, I just know 2 people who were asked to switch on the laptop (probably something wrong during X-ray scanning and they were asked to prove that was a normal working laptop), but of course they can do, especially, as SE said, if there is any "hint" for the custom officers

if you have an old version of windows, with a boot taking minutes, that's mighty inconvenient.

I've had to switch on my old notebook entering the US before so I guess it's possible here as well, especially if you are giving off the wrong pheromones.

off topic, but they check hard drives on a regular basis in australia.

me no likey.

I heard of a couple of people having troubles entering the US with Solid State Drives (SSD) a few years ago. The x-ray people did not know what to make of the different image on the scan.

They were let through after booting up and having to explain what it was.

Best to use something like PGP's Whole Disk Encryption which will encrypt on the fly all hard drive contents before boot. I've been using this for years and there's no noticeable impact on performance.

For the super top secret stuff create a Truecrypt container to hold those files you want to keep from prying eyes. Again this is a little overboard but paranoia is a state of mind until something actually does happen..

JackDaniels wrote:Best to use something like PGP's Whole Disk Encryption which will encrypt on the fly all hard drive contents before boot. I've been using this for years and there's no noticeable impact on performance.

For the super top secret stuff create a Truecrypt container to hold those files you want to keep from prying eyes. Again this is a little overboard but paranoia is a state of mind until something actually does happen..

forget the hdd and go to orchard towers.

JackDaniels wrote:Best to use something like PGP's Whole Disk Encryption which will encrypt on the fly all hard drive contents before boot. I've been using this for years and there's no noticeable impact on performance.

For the super top secret stuff create a Truecrypt container to hold those files you want to keep from prying eyes. Again this is a little overboard but paranoia is a state of mind until something actually does happen..

I'd just give your notebook a good wipe. Those U.V lights can detect many things !!

BillyB wrote:

JackDaniels wrote:Best to use something like PGP's Whole Disk Encryption which will encrypt on the fly all hard drive contents before boot. I've been using this for years and there's no noticeable impact on performance.

For the super top secret stuff create a Truecrypt container to hold those files you want to keep from prying eyes. Again this is a little overboard but paranoia is a state of mind until something actually does happen..

I'd just give your notebook a good wipe. Those U.V lights can detect many things !!

the hard diks or the floppy drive?

nakatago wrote:

BillyB wrote:

JackDaniels wrote:Best to use something like PGP's Whole Disk Encryption which will encrypt on the fly all hard drive contents before boot. I've been using this for years and there's no noticeable impact on performance.

For the super top secret stuff create a Truecrypt container to hold those files you want to keep from prying eyes. Again this is a little overboard but paranoia is a state of mind until something actually does happen..

I'd just give your notebook a good wipe. Those U.V lights can detect many things !!

the hard diks or the floppy drive?

Floppy. Anything else will definitely arouse suspicion (Shit, that's shockingly bad!)

BillyB wrote:

nakatago wrote:

BillyB wrote: I'd just give your notebook a good wipe. Those U.V lights can detect many things !!

the hard diks or the floppy drive?

Floppy. Anything else will definitely arouse suspicion (Shit, that's shockingly bad!)

Well, you certainly raised a fine point and perhaps, I daresay, got to the meat of the matter.

I believe, according to the latest surveys on ED, JD's problem might with with Floppy Drives.