Put a magnet to a HDD or old floppy disk to "erase" them?

[Luba]

If I put a magnet to one of those old floppy disks or to a hard disk drive would that in effect be a secure erase?

But interesting I put a magnet on a hard disk drive platter and the magnet had no "pull" effect on it?? Perhaps the shiny silver color coating deflects the effect of magnetism??

 

[GoCubsGo]

You'll need a very powerful magnet for it to actually matter.
Why not just erase via OS X or Windows?

 

[-aggie-]

It would screw it up, but no, it would not be a secure erase. There are ways to get the parts you didn't magnetize off.

 

[GGJstudios]

Busting the Biggest PC Myths

Magnets zap your data.

• For venerable floppies, this statement holds true.
• Fortunately, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields.
• The same goes for hard drives. 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.

Want to erase data from a hard drive you plan to toss? Don't bother with a magnet. Overwrite the data that is stored on the media instead.

 

[CJS7070]

Keep in mind that hard drives are enclosed in faraday cages, so the magnet wouldn't have the full effect of an exposed platter... and that would destroy the drive right then and there.

 

[Luba]

I never saw a hard disk platter up close and personal, so a friend took it out. He drilled out the special screws in HDD case and took out the platter. Interestingly, inside the HDD case there was a strong magnet in there!

BTW, what is a faraday cage?

Keep in mind that hard drives are enclosed in faraday cages, so the magnet wouldn't have the full effect of an exposed platter... and that would destroy the drive right then and there.

 

[GGJstudios]

BTW, what is a faraday cage?

Google is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

 

[Flynnstone]

Keep in mind that hard drives are enclosed in faraday cages, so the magnet wouldn't have the full effect of an exposed platter... and that would destroy the drive right then and there.

Faraday Shields block electric fields NOT magnetic fields.

A strong magnetic will "disturb" a floppy, like 5 1/4"
A really strong magnetic will "disturb" a 3.5" floppy.
and even stronger for a hard drive.
I use disturb because its not necessarily erasing it.

Just erase it using OS X or ...
or use a secure erase tool.
or use a drill and hammer etc and physically destroy it.

I never saw a hard disk platter up close and personal, so a friend took it out. He drilled out the special screws in HDD case and took out the platter. Interestingly, inside the HDD case there was a strong magnet in there!

BTW, what is a faraday cage?

I've got a couple I could post some pictures.

The strong magnetic is for the voice coil head actuator.