[backbeat]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

Puhleeeeeeze! This is not an issue of "pissing contests", simply one of correcting patently WRONG information that was posted. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Did you notice that one of the information sources quoted debunking this nonsense was a technical support engineer from a hard drive manufacturer? Additionally a well known moderator here tried to duplicate the issue with totally negative results. There's no way a BB holster magnet is going to cause data loss on a modern hard drive, the concept is simply ludicrous. Did this guy suffer data loss from his hard drive when his holster happened to be sitting there? Maybe. Does that prove in any way that it was even remotely CAUSED by the holster magnet? Nope, not at all. Finally, the original poster actually claims that the holster magnet will firmly stick the holster to a whiteboard? You can prove THAT bit of nonsense false yourself. Go try to stick your (empty) holster to a whiteboard, a refrigerator or anything else. The magnet doesn't even begin to be strong enough to do that - yes, I just tried.

My singular point is that one invites respect by laying out facts in a dignified manner, rather than with an adolescent tone of 'gotcha' (unless I overlooked the FoxNews logo on this site somewhere).

Also, unless someone else has the same notebook and HDD as the OP, a comparison is apples to oranges and therefore does not hold water. Magnetic fields have been known to destroy data on HDD's, and although anecdotal, I've experienced the same some years back with a Toshiba notebook and an airport. There is really no need to pour more fuel on this.

[b00st3d]

just tried this on a dell latitude d600 which is identical to the d800 just lower specs. i tried it both with a 7130 holster and a 8700 holster...no wiped data...no clicking sounds...laptop still functioning normally.

[coreyg510]

First and last warning. Please keep your posts to a respectable level and decorum. I will not tolerate heated arguments. If you disagree with another member, then simply state so and move on. There is no need to take this to unprofessional level.


Thanks for understanding,

The Gecko

[BES admin]

Originally Posted by GovGeek426

The noise is CLEARLY a sign of the HDD read head thrashing!!! This is not my first BBQ... I was actually using my laptop when this occurred. The contents stored in the logical partition that was in use at the time were mostly destroyed. However I was able to salvage most information from my primary logical partition by using some intense HDD bit recovery tools.

If you have ever taken a laptop apart, you'll notice that there is no protection from magnetism surrounding the HDD. The magnet in the BB 7130c holster is indeed strong enough to flip bit of data on a HDD. I dare you to try it!

Incidentally, the HDD was only one week old. As always, I stress test my components before using them in a production machine. This HDD was not failing, and it was not a coincidence.

Please read for accurate information on how magnetism is used internally in the HDD.

h t t p : / / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk

Thanx,

First BBQ or not, if you have ever opened a Hard Drive for the fun of it, you will note a magnet internally, litterally mm's from the platters.

The magnet inside is strong enough to leave a blood blister if you get, say a finger, caught between the magnet and some metal (Personal experience).

The magnet on a Blackberry holster (any model) is barely strong enough to hold the holster onto a whiteboard... barely.

Case and point: The original Blackberry 8700c holsters had magnets which were ever so slightly mis-aligned and as a result, didn't perform their function of turning off the display on the device. Now, if the magnet were strong enough to wipe a HD, then it wouldn't matter if those defective cases had magnets placed as much as 3 inches out of place, but this isn't the case.

What government agency do you work for?

[GovGeek426]

I cannot believe that people would think that I have all this time on my hands to just post unfounded information to a blog. I am simply sharing information so that others might not suffer from my plight. I wonder how this post would have gone if maybe the first person who replied, understood and didn't debunk so quickly.

I have SOLID evidence that this is WILL happen. I suppose it's difficult since you don't know me. Believe me though, ignorance would not allow me to live the life I live, and work where I work. (And not to be rude, but I honestly cannot disclose where I work, "BES Admin".)

Being that I am a professional geek, meaning that this is what I do to support my family, I've spent YEARS education myself in technology and earning degrees/certificates to justify my knowledge. It just baffles me that most of you would quickly dismiss this incident. An incident that I have been ABLE TO REPLICATE.

I do know how HDD's are made; I also completely understand that there are seriously strong magnets inside. However these magnets are specially designed to work along with the magnetic media that is being applied to the platter(s) (AKA Data). This is old news.

Even still, place one of these magnets where they are not designed to go, and say bye-bye to your disk and/or data! Just because there are magnets in a hard drive, does not mean that the drive is not vulnerable to losing data via a magnet placed in the wrong area. Look at how they had to reengineer hard drives for several times more capacity by reconfiguring the bits of data in a perpendicular fashion. Lookup "perpendicular storage" in Google. They had to change the internal magnet structure so as to not interfere with the platter(s) and read/write head(s).

Magnetic fields are not like the air you breathe. They don't just circle the magnet in 360 degrees. Their direction can be modified so they don't even come close to interfering with the magnetic platter(s) and read/write head(s).

It's like the lights on the front of your vehicle. Without the mirrored surfaces behind the bulb, the light would just "pour" everywhere and there would not be a focused beam in front of you.

Anyway, I am not intending to be cruel, mean or otherwise. It saddens me when I see people trying to contribute, and the intended audience won't take it for face value.

Take care.

[mister.zero]

Wonderful discussion. Very entertaining. Now we just wait to see who will tire first and walk away from this obviously dead-end argument.

Skepticism of "experts" of any sort that you find on the Internet is a common sense practice. I don't know any of you people All the posters in this forum could be just one guy with an extremely fragmented personality and I'd probably never know the difference. This discussion has taken an ugly life of its own, though I know everyone is adding to it with the best of intentions. This will have no resolution and leave not a few people frustrated with the inability of others to see "the truth."

In this case, I have no idea who might be right and could probably care less except that I just heard my hard drive beg for mercy as pixie sprites ate it alive because I carelessly walked clockwise around magic mushroom circle instead of hopping through on one foot.

I have PROOF that this will happen. Want to argue? Knock yourself out. You will never in a million years prove me wrong. I'll just keep telling you that I know it to be true and I'm sorry that you feel it necessary to shamelessly make fun of me to hide your own ignorance of hard-drive-eating sprites. I live or die by my knowledge of mythic creatures and that should be good enough for you, even though I have no way to back this up.

And obviously I have a problem with the OP's assertions, but what can you do? Pick apart each flawed statement with careful reasoning until I'm satisfied with my own "superior" logic? Nah, there are much more kinky things I could think to do with my time

[coreyg510]

Well....I think this thread has provided enough valuable insight from both sides. Since we are getting no where fast, except in to another arguement, I am closing this thread.


**Thread Closed**