Travelling with downloaded software.

[abcd]

I had posted this question before also but did not get any definitive answer so here it is again. I need someone who has experience of travelling to the US to answer it.

I am going to the US and will be taking my laptop with me which is full of downloaded games and software. Now some people are telling me that I should wipe everything off my hard drive before going, some are saying I should copy it to an external hard drive and put it in my luggage and some say it does not matter because no one will check what is on my laptop at immigration. Now I can get rid of most of the games but there are some apps which I would need for my studies etc and which would be rather expensive if bought in the US (and they are too big to be uploaded or stored on email). So I need someone who travels abroad often (preferably to the US) to clarify if it is safe to carry locally bought dvds and/or downloaded stuff on my laptop.

Thanks

 

[ammarzubair]

not sure about laptops but a friend of my mine took his smartphone with him when he went to the US for studies. within a week he was contacted and told to remove all the pirated paid apps. he was given a warning and that if repeated could have consequences

 

[abcd]

Actually I am only worried about what will happen at immigration/customs. Once I get there I would be using everything offline so that probably wont be a problem.

 

[Saadio]

On an airport you wouldn't have any issues for the case of laptop. NEVER take locally bought DVDs with you, they will get confiscated, and you might get in trouble for taking pirated DVDs with you.

 

[ammarzubair]

i once heard that they check for the windows serial sticker under the laptop. now i have never heard this actually happening to someone

 

[abcd]

Thanks. I am just getting a bit nervous because I have heard a lot of horror stories about US airport checking etc. So as long as I have all my games and apps on my laptops hard drive I should be fine?

 

[Nauman 360]

immigration is not going to take your laptop, turn it on and start checking for serial numbers of the apps...
i think they have alot of other things to do than take everyone's laptop and start looking for which games are cracked.

 

[abcd]

Given I have a terabyte of games and movies on my hardrive it would be pretty obvious even without checking serial numbers. But from all these responses I am assuming I shouldnt worry about my laptop being checked at the airport.

 

[murtaza12]

Shove your laptop in the suitcase. Don't keep it as hand luggage.

 

[ImranKhan111]

pull out your laptop harddrive put it in you bag and carry your laptop with you when you reach USandA put the harddrive back. In case they check your laptop tell them its faulty.