Returning to the topic of media volatility I have just had a

rather strange experience.  Before

travelling to a remote office I burned new copies of my install and application

discs, just to make sure I didn’t run in to any trouble due to a scratched disc

etc.  Well imagine my surprise when four

out of six discs were corrupt (which I of course only found out while trying to

use them), I had even checked the integrity after burning!  So what happened?  The discs were burned, checked and then

stored in the dark at room temperature for a few days while travelling.  I very much doubt a bad batch of discs could

be to blame as I have already burned quite a few and have been happily using

them for months.  The only thing I can

think of is that the corruption was caused by passing through x-ray machines on

my outbound journey.  Now I don’t know

about you but I always worry about my laptop being scanned (yes I know they say

that there is no danger of corruption but stranger things have happened), I had

never thought about CD corruption.  There

doesn’t seem to be any definitive answer as to whether or not x-rays will

damage magnetic and optical media.  Wikipedia says small doses of

x-rays ‘should’ not cause any damage… that ‘should’ doesn’t inspire confidence.

Has anyone else experienced data loss after passing through
airport x-ray machines?