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Whoa. Been a minute since I did any "tech work" and it shows......
- Thread starter palmettomoon
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It won't hurt your SSD. I wouldn't do it to mine, but since it's yours, go for it.
- Joined
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Seriously though, it won't damage anything.
www.partitionwizard.com
Can Magnets Damage Your Computer - Here’s the Answer - MiniTool Partition Wizard
This post shows you whether a magnet can damage a computer. Are magnets bad for computers? Let’s have a look!
I'm remembering a client in the Louisville, KY KMA (Kroger Marketing Area) who called me and demanded I do something about the "worm" my company's software corrupted her computer with. Worms were much in the news in 1999-2000 so she was certain that our software was infected (it was not, she wasn't the sharpest knife in the block).Seriously though, it won't damage anything.
Can Magnets Damage Your Computer - Here’s the Answer - MiniTool Partition Wizard
This post shows you whether a magnet can damage a computer. Are magnets bad for computers? Let’s have a look!
Anyhoo, I drive the 100 miles to that office to investigate her complaint about files missing or damaged and the FAT being corrupted on her desktop. I get to her cubicle and see something like this:
Although the picture is of a refrigerator, imagine a desktop tower case with the same or more amount of magnets all over it. She was beaming with pride when I asked her about the magnets and proceeds to tell me all about the trips she and her husband had taken over the years and how they always bought a souvenir magnet before leaving their location.
When I asked her if she understood what a HHD disk was made of she gives me this look:
The only thing I'd be worried about with a magnet is that you might make a short circuit. Especially if there's power still supplied to the unit.
Regular iron magnets have never been strong enough to wipe an old-style hard disk. That's a myth and it's why we have to shred them to destroy them.
There was a time, back in the 70s, when magnets were used as 'core' memory and running a bar magnet across those would corrupt the data stored on them. Still, it wouldn't damage the memory itself.
We used to find the dead bit's on those by covering the board (they were the size of a cookie sheet) with wax paper and sprinkling iron filings on them. Then we had a fixture that would set all of them to a '1' (on) and see which ones didn't make the cool ring of filings you see in science demos.
Old monitors (and regular TVs) could be affected by a magnet, but it was a simple matter to degauss them. Some of the better monitors even had a degauss button.
So no, a non-conductive magnet won't hurt a computer of any age since the late 70s.
Static on the other hand, will kill a modern computer dead. Or worse, make it flakey and unreliable.
This is the exact opposite of the magnetic thing. Much older computers were basically immune to static. A datacenter I work in sometimes used to be for an old (1970s) mainframe, and it was carpeted! They tore it up years ago, but there's still a 1-inch strip around the edges showing the cool retro color scheme they used.
Around the late 80s the space between transistors in chips became small enough that the high-voltage, low-amperage shock from static could degrade the circuit traces.
The dense modern parts like memory and CPUs are extremely static sensitive. I would always recommend using a grounding strap when touching them directly, and never touch the actual contacts even with one on.
You generally won't kill something with static, but you will shorten the components lifespan, sometime by a lot.
That same company I worked for with the 'core' memory testing found that using anti-static products like mats and ground straps cut 'infant mortality' (failures < 1 year) by 80%. And this was the late 80s, when static wasn't as much of an issue as today.
In short, (non-conductive) magnets won't harm a PC, but your grubby fingers might.
Regular iron magnets have never been strong enough to wipe an old-style hard disk. That's a myth and it's why we have to shred them to destroy them.
There was a time, back in the 70s, when magnets were used as 'core' memory and running a bar magnet across those would corrupt the data stored on them. Still, it wouldn't damage the memory itself.
We used to find the dead bit's on those by covering the board (they were the size of a cookie sheet) with wax paper and sprinkling iron filings on them. Then we had a fixture that would set all of them to a '1' (on) and see which ones didn't make the cool ring of filings you see in science demos.
Old monitors (and regular TVs) could be affected by a magnet, but it was a simple matter to degauss them. Some of the better monitors even had a degauss button.
So no, a non-conductive magnet won't hurt a computer of any age since the late 70s.
Static on the other hand, will kill a modern computer dead. Or worse, make it flakey and unreliable.
This is the exact opposite of the magnetic thing. Much older computers were basically immune to static. A datacenter I work in sometimes used to be for an old (1970s) mainframe, and it was carpeted! They tore it up years ago, but there's still a 1-inch strip around the edges showing the cool retro color scheme they used.
Around the late 80s the space between transistors in chips became small enough that the high-voltage, low-amperage shock from static could degrade the circuit traces.
The dense modern parts like memory and CPUs are extremely static sensitive. I would always recommend using a grounding strap when touching them directly, and never touch the actual contacts even with one on.
You generally won't kill something with static, but you will shorten the components lifespan, sometime by a lot.
That same company I worked for with the 'core' memory testing found that using anti-static products like mats and ground straps cut 'infant mortality' (failures < 1 year) by 80%. And this was the late 80s, when static wasn't as much of an issue as today.
In short, (non-conductive) magnets won't harm a PC, but your grubby fingers might.
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