Tech myths

[LinuxRandal]

As far as hard drives are concerned — Yes, they are a magnetic media, but the housing acts as a shield so it would take a huge magnet to affect them.

I think a smaller, rare earth style magnet, left on or near a drive for LONG periods, would/could also have an effect.

I have a printer friend, who after a while started having pc issues. He has left a roll of magnetic sign material (low magnetic field), next to the pc for about 2 months prior.

[pelligrini]

A magnetic field can mess up CRT monitors & TVs too.

[BobSch]

I think a smaller, rare earth style magnet, left on or near a drive for LONG periods, would/could also have an effect.

I have a printer friend, who after a while started having pc issues. He has left a roll of magnetic sign material (low magnetic field), next to the pc for about 2 months prior.

I'd be surprised if that was the problem.
First, mag sign material, especially when rolled up, probably doesn't have much of an external field.
Second, the metal case of the PC will block most if what's left.
Third, the distance from the magnetic source to the drive will attenuate it even more.

Of course, all this depends on the orientation of the sign material's field relative to the drive itself.

I'd be more likely to suspect some other cause for your friend's problems. Possibly a virus, a hard drive that's full or need defragging, or, possibly, a defective drive or some other component within the PC.

How old is the PC? Does the user have anti-virus software running and is it up to date? Has he cleaned out temp files, caches and defragged recently? It's amazing how quickly a drive can fill up with unnecessary crap.

[LinuxRandal]

I'd be more likely to suspect some other cause for your friend's problems. Possibly a virus, a hard drive that's full or need defragging, or, possibly, a defective drive or some other component within the PC.

How old is the PC? Does the user have anti-virus software running and is it up to date? Has he cleaned out temp files, caches and defragged recently? It's amazing how quickly a drive can fill up with unnecessary crap.

This was I believe around 11 years ago now? (time flies) Viruses, etc were ruled out long before we ever came to the conclusion about the magnetic sign material.