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Topic: Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span? (Read 4241 times) previous topic - next topic
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Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

I have a hard drive that is about 5 years old and I barely used it because I used it strictly for back information and I stuck it in my closet. I was thinking about takeing it out and useing it in my computer for more room for my music files. The problem is that I read on the IBM site in the white papers section that the magnetic properties of the hard drive do not last the lifetime of the product. So, I was wondering....since this hard drive is about 5 years old and if I use it for music, is there a chance that the magnetic properties might be weaker and it might loose some of the information of a music file(like a few bits or a byte) and in return will decrease the audio qaulity of the music file?

Thanks,
-Darin
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #1 –
Hard to say generally..
my oldest IDE drive is from 1998 (6 GB) and still did fine 3 months ago when I used it for re-installing windows and saving some stuff.
if you're lucky it can outlast 10 years, if not it may suddenly refuse to spin up after a few months, who knows

at least the average lifetime of a HD is much higher than that of a CD-R. The majority of discs I burned 2002/2003 are no longer readable. my condolences to everyone who used these media as "safe storage" for important data.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #2 –
I have somewhere here a 20MB (yes, twenty megabytes) XT-BUS hard disk from 80s, the last time I checked it (about 2 years ago) it was working flawlessly.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #3 –
Yeah....but that is in regards to the hard drive performing physically. What I mean is what about the magnetic properties? The hard drive can still work flawlessly...but what if the magnetic properties have become weak and the music qaulity slightly decreases because it lost a few bits of information? I don't mean skipping or anything like that....I mean what if the music qaulity is degraded but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you did a comparesion with the originial CD the song was on? Is that possible?

Thanks,
-Darin
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #4 –
All hard drives will fail mechanically long before they lose their magnetic properties.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #5 –
Quote
Yeah....but that is in regards to the hard drive performing physically. What I mean is what about the magnetic properties? The hard drive can still work flawlessly...but what if the magnetic properties have become weak and the music qaulity slightly decreases because it lost a few bits of information? I don't mean skipping or anything like that....I mean what if the music qaulity is degraded but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you did a comparesion with the originial CD the song was on? Is that possible?

Thanks,
-Darin
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321227"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

In case of hard drive losing its magnetic properties you wouldn't notice quality degradation of music but total mayhem of the file-system - files, partitions and everything would be disappearing, becoming unreadable, etc. Such a disk would become useless at once. Hard drives are not Audio CDs, there's too many complex safety mechanisms involved to let single bits become corrupted without being noticed.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #6 –
Quote
All hard drives will fail mechanically long before they lose their magnetic properties.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321228"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I'm not trying to argue because I really don't know myself, but that totally contradicts what I read on the IBM site in the white papers section.
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #7 –
It's certainly possible to ruin the magnetic properties of drives, it's just that under normal this won't happen.  If you degauss your drive, it will be screwed, but who would do this?  It will more than likely suffer mechanical failure.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #8 –
Quote
  If you degauss your drive, it will be screwed, but who would do this?  It will more than likely suffer mechanical failure.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321318"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


What exactly is degaussing a hard drive?

Thanks,
-Darin
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #9 –
Quote
Quote
  If you degauss your drive, it will be screwed, but who would do this?  It will more than likely suffer mechanical failure.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321318"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


What exactly is degaussing a hard drive?

Thanks,
-Darin
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321523"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Placing it inside a magnetic field.

Hard drive's magnetic properties...the life span?

Reply #10 –
Quote
......The majority of discs I burned 2002/2003 are no longer readable. my condolences to everyone who used these media as "safe storage" for important data.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=321213"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


You´re extremely unlucky man. I have every disc I´ve recorded since 2000 in perfect condition (or at least I don´t notice any flaws when using them).