Original Xbox magnet

Mechanical hard drives are magnetic, they store and read data magnetically. They consist of disc platters and read/write heads. The drives are sealed inside is a vacuum. When your son moved the drive to the PS4 they would have just moved the drive as is. They wouldn't have 'opened the drive'.

Two drives sitting next to each other won't wipe each other, either on or off.

Moving one drive from one device to another won't damage or corrupt any data.

I'm still confused how you took an original Xbox hard drive and placed it in a PS4. The HDD in the original Xbox was a 3.5" drive and wouldn't physically fit. It was also only 8GB. I think you're confusing original Xbox for an Xbox 360. Regardless though, the answer is the same.

We don't allow discussions regarding modification of console hardware - not even really old hardware. Only upgrading/changing PC hardware questions/discussions are allowed.

My son opened his original Xbox HD and placed it beside his PlayStations 3 and 4 and Xbox 360 and is concerned he may have damaged the Hard Drives within those 3 consoles due the magnetic field from the permanent magnets of the open hard drive.. he thought the magnets may be large enough to destroy parts of the data, his profile and electrons. We have been trying to find out how strong these permanent magnets are and if they may have created damage.

If their are magnets inside a hard drive, surely those same magnets would also be damaging the original hard drive? and not just random bits of other hard drives.

Hi Jess.

Thanks for your reply.

So are you saying that this magnet in the OG Xbox hard drive is too small to do any damage. This is what he needs clarified and if it’s a very large magnet that it would wipe it clean and won’t boot up. I just need it to be clear for his understanding.

Hi,

I replied to this earlier. The drive cover and packaging of a hard drive are not just there to protect a drive in operation they also act as a shield against magnetic fields.

In a server or PC you can have several mechanical HDD drives in operation sitting right next to each other, they won't be able to damage each other or wipe the other's data. The magnets are not powerful enough even if the casing were removed.

Hard drives are assembled in 'clean rooms' which are special rooms clear of dust and other foreign particles. You can remove the lid of a hard drive, but doing so can (and pretty much will) damage the drive. But removing the cover can not affect any other devices nearby.

As stated previously, hard drives are mechanical and will wear out and fail. If another hard drive is one the way out it will be through general wear and tear, not because they were near another drive with its lid removed.

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

The magnet company is right. A magnet won't delete or remove parts of his profile, it will wipe the console clean and could even damage the hard drive within the console. A small piece of magnet next to a console will do nothing more than keeping a phone next to a console.

Hope this helps