Timeline for How can I wipe a broken hard disk drive before sending it back to the manufacturer for maintenance?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Feb 3, 2012 at 2:59 | history | edited | wizlog | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added a link so users can see Wikipedia's page on neodymium-iron-boron alloys are.
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| Feb 2, 2012 at 23:58 | comment | added | Tortoise | @JeffAtwood I would guess so; the DOD standards also necessitate flash drives with self-destruct capability. | |
| Feb 2, 2012 at 5:42 | comment | added | Jeff Atwood | @Tortoise some of the degaussing pages I found said that the strict DOD standards require removing the top metal case of the drive before degaussing with a real degaussing wand, but it sounded like that was them being extra-extra super careful and going beyond what was typically necessary to erase the drive... | |
| Feb 2, 2012 at 5:30 | comment | added | Tortoise | @JourneymanGeek - The drive magnets are found inside the case, and the case does not operate well as a magnetic shield (especially in desktop hard drives); this is most of the reason that dropping magnets in computers is not usually advised. The NIB magnets do create a very directional magnetic field, so that they can drive the recording head without affecting the recording surface (the important part), as you said; however, if these magnets are removed and places such that this field points into the drive through the outer casing, it will scramble the data on the platters, wiping the drive. | |
| Feb 2, 2012 at 5:18 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek♦ | and the case of the hard drive, shockingly enough, is a very well designed magnetic shield. The reason the drive magnets (which actuate the voice coil) don't affect the recording head is they are designed create a focused, parallel magnetic field | |
| Feb 2, 2012 at 5:15 | history | answered | Tortoise | CC BY-SA 3.0 |