You raise an interesting point. And it's something I should ask my son about. I know that you really have to keep magnets away from floppy discs and 'magnetic strips' that contain data, and probably zip drives too. But, the strongest magnet we have in this house came from a dismantled hard drive. It's the niobium variety and is so strong that you don't want to get a pinch of your skin between the magnet and some metal. It snaps together really fast and truly hurts! Like I said, this thing came from inside a hard drive. So...I don't know how a magnet can hurt the hardware in a computer box. I would have thought so, too, if we didn't have this magnet and know exactly where it came from. If anyone has a explanation, I'd like to know more. Jan G. ----Original Message Follows---- From: "bobert" <bobert@i-1.net> Reply-To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BSChat] MAGNETS - FANS - COMPUTERS Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 20:14:15 -0700 Hi, Sheepers! I know as much about computers and their workings as I do about the tidal basins on any planet --- but one thing I do know cause 'my expert' told me is that you should never put anything near your computer that is magnetic or puts out a magnetic field such as most tools, etc. I don't know if fans, big or small, have magnetic fields, but one way to check is with a paper clip. Paper clip adheres or sticks to the fan - fan is magnetic. The magnetic business screws up the workings/guts of the computer someway. You expert sheepers can explain this much better that I can dream about. Shirley: bobert@i-1.net ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== Unsubscribe from the list: Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsubscribe ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

Remember grade school and playing with magnets. N and S ends would attract and the same ends would avoid. The hard drives have their polarity. Magnets can disrupt the polarity of the hard drive and screw things up. EdrieAnne