Isn't there some sort of password or encryption you can do?
If I decide not to reformat, I'm going to create a new account that has auto-login, and use Mac OS's built-in home directory encryption to hide my files. That won't hide my pirated applications, but it'll get everything else.
I also addressed whole-disk encryption, which probably isn't an option:
I would PGP the disk, but then Windows would break.
And yeah, it's only a screen repair, and the only reason they would probably need to boot into OS X would be to get serial # information and other diagnostics crap. And to make sure the screen works fine.
I'd back up stuff either way.. no telling whether or not you'll ever get it back (you never know with repair technicians 
)
To quote the guy, "there's a small chance, like 1 in 100,000, that we'll accidentally wipe the disk when we install the screen."
I have important stuff backed up, I just want to see if dd'ing the drive would work/be worth it, and if reformatting would be a good step to take.
(You've pointed out I should dd just in case, but should I reformat is the question...)
If they accidentally wipe my disk, I should bring a spare laptop disk and have them install it as punishment for being retarded. 160GB just isn't enough for me nowadays!
(And if I did that, would dd'ing the disk back work correctly? Probably not, but hey!)
