I recently bought two Hitachi HLSMPUA3201ABB external Hard drives. They come with a USB key attached to the enclosure with a magnet. It's not a very strong magnet but I can't help wondering whether the drive would last longer without it. Should I consider returning it?
2 Answers
It won't damage your HDD, don't even give it a second thought.
See here for reasons why.
The only magnets powerful enough to scrub data from a drive platter are laboratory degaussers or those used by government agencies to wipe bits off media. "In the real world, people are not losing data from magnets," says Bill Rudock, a tech-support engineer with hard-drive maker Seagate. "In every disk," notes Rudock, "there's one heck of a magnet that swings the head."
There are magnets inside the hard drive also and are not shielded in any way.
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Thanks. Would have realised if I stopped to think. Guess I was being over-paranoid about my fifty bucks. :)– YitzchakSep 18, 2011 at 13:48
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Sensible people are cautious with their money. Its worth asking if you're not sure. Imagine if the answer had gone the other way and you hadn;t asked :-) Sep 18, 2011 at 14:07
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The armature that moves the heads on a hard drive uses a very powerful magnet on both sides of the voice coil, they are not shielded, and they sit very close to the platters, Joe is right, it takes a super magnet to have any effect on data...reuk.co.uk/Hard-Disk-Drive-Magnets-For-Wind-Turbines.htm– MoabSep 18, 2011 at 16:39