Hard drive stored with a fan that includes magnets

[BonzaiDuck]

I learned way back in the 1980s -- don't use a magnetized screwdriver when installing or working with hard disks. I was never completely sure whether it would cause data loss, or permanent damage to the drive itself.

Here's what just happened to me.

I had a Seagate 7200.10 320GB which had originally been configured with Windows XP as a single drive -- for testing a system destined for 4-drive-RAID5. This original disk--- same model as the 4-drive-RAID -- was intended to be a "spare" or backup in case I had to hot-swap a drive from the RAID array.

I stored the drive temporarily in cardboard box -- even forgetting for a while that the drive was in that particular box.

Months later, I swapped out a CPU cooler from a different system with the Noctua-NH-U12P. The Noctua comes with a Noctua fan which elicited positive responses from our community, but I decided not to use it.

I set the fan on top of the box containing the drive, where it sat for several months.

Then today, I was assessing the relative weights (and merits) of two heatpipe coolers by using our kitchen scale to weigh cooler-fan combinations. I happened to weigh the Noctua fan, and noticed that it contained magnets when I tried to pull it off the metal (iron or steel) tray of the scale. I returned it to where it had been stored -- having forgotten what was in the cardboard box, and noticed the same "magnetic pull" when I attempted to lay it down on that box.

Who knows? Can I just repartition the drive and then reformat it? Or is the drive permanently a loss? I would think it would only have damaged the data, but I'm looking for second opinions here.

 

[RebateMonger]

Did you actually test the drive for data loss? I'd be shocked if such a small magnetic field would affect the drive at all.

If the field IS strong enough, the danger is that the Low Level Format tracks might be affected. Those actually control the head position, which is very critical nowadays with the high data density. You can't restore the low level format tracks with normal software.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
I learned way back in the 1980s -- don't use a magnetized screwdriver when installing or working with hard disks.

This is news to me. My computer toolpack came with a screwdriver with magnetic tips, and I've never had any issues with hard drives crapping out after using that screwdriver to install them.

 

[Gillbot]

I store actual 40-95lb pull magnets in my laptop bag and never had an issue.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, folks! If youse say so!

I was stunned at that Noctua fan though. The tray of the scale was steel, and when I pulled it off the scale, the magnetic force had quite a tug to it.

I just discovered this situation this morning, and I'll have to test the drive. One more set of tasks and something to worry about.

 

[Rubycon]

Brushless motors have a ceramic ring (magnet). The flux is rather low and should not impact a hard drive as the field does not penetrate very far. A magnetic screwdriver will not hurt anything in a modern computer and as a matter of fact is better! Ever drop a screw inside a case?

 

[Raduque]

It takes an extremely strong magnet to do damage to an HD. The kind of magnets capable of doing serious damage to your hands, should they get between two of them in the process of clacking together.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Brushless motors have a ceramic ring (magnet). The flux is rather low and should not impact a hard drive as the field does not penetrate very far. A magnetic screwdriver will not hurt anything in a modern computer and as a matter of fact is better! Ever drop a screw inside a case?

No, but the thought of it has stressed me frequently over the last 25 years . . . . I've seen systems shipped from Gateway or Dell that had a loose screw in them, and they would malfunction in a matter of months after moving the computer from one room to another. When I saw that, I decided I'd build my own machines without exception-thank-you-very-much!

There are myths created at some point in an emerging technology, and we cling to them. This must be one of those myths. And I'd always thought for sure that I'd damaged a 20 megabyte WD hard disk by using a magnetized screwdriver. In those days --- maybe I did, but I'll never be sure. [And GEEZ, that was 1986 . . . ]

That's right -- 20 MEGA-bytes. It was a virtual wonder of disk-capacity in those days -- for "MICRO" computers . .. . . you should say, "Thank you for telling us those prehistoric facts, you old geezer!"