Whether our computer hardware is brand new or a bit older, it never hurts to exercise a bit of caution in order to avoid damaging it. With that in mind, can magnets damage or wipe a hard-drive? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a worried reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
Photo courtesy of John Keogh (Flickr).
The Question
SuperUser reader Rajesh Nielmbaram wants to know if magnets can damage or wipe a laptop’s hard-drive:
Suppose my younger brother is playing with magnets near my Dell laptop. Can a magnet wipe data from the hard-drive or otherwise irreversibly damage it?
Can magnets damage or wipe a laptop’s hard-drive?
The Answer
SuperUser contributor Josh R has the answer for us:
While you can damage hard-drives with magnets, it takes a very, very powerful magnet to do any damage. As this article explains, any magnet that your brother may be playing with will not be large enough to do any damage:
Article Quote: This myth was popularized by movies where hackers or criminals would quickly erase the contents of their hard disk drives with a few sweeps of a powerful magnet. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to do it with regular magnets, no matter how big they are.
Every hard disk drive actually contains two powerful neodymium-iron-boron magnets that control the movements of the read/write heads. Yet the data on the platters remain unaffected. It will take a very, very powerful magnet to affect the data inside the hard disk drive.
You can also read through the SuperUser Q&A post regarding various computer components that are vulnerable to magnets here:
What Computer Components are Currently Vulnerable to Magnets?
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
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AirDroid for Android replaces your USB cable for connecting to your PC. Transfer files back and forth, send text messages, play music, view your photos, and manage applications using a web browser or a desktop client.
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AirDroid for Android replaces your USB cable for connecting to your PC. Transfer files back and forth, send text messages, play music, view your photos, and manage applications using a web browser or a desktop client.
AirDroid for Android replaces your USB cable for connecting to your PC. Transfer files back and forth, send text messages, play music, view your photos, and manage applications using a web browser or a desktop client.
AirDroid for Android replaces your USB cable for connecting to your PC. Transfer files back and forth, send text messages, play music, view your photos, and manage applications using a web browser or a desktop client.
AirDroid for Android replaces your USB cable for connecting to your PC. Transfer files back and forth, send text messages, play music, view your photos, and manage applications using a web browser or a desktop client.
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