Disks, Dirt and Dust

by Russ Rowe (QuantumLink)
Reprinted from The Newsletter, Laguna Hills, CA
For MCUC Magazine, edited by Cheryn Nunn

The distance between the read/write head of your disk drive and the surface of
your magnetic disks is SO small that is is difficult to imagine.  The average
'gap' between the head and the magnetic media is .000027 inches, or twenty
seven MILLIONTHS of an inch.  Now, to show you the importance of keeping the
area around your computer and drive clean (to make a point, not to scare you),
here are some other figures:

A fingerprint is .00065 inches, or sixty five hundred thousandths of an inch.

A smoke particle (like from a cigarette) is .00025 inches, or twenty five
hundred thousandths of an inch.

A strand of hair is .003 inches, or three thousandths of an inch.

A dust particle is .015 inches, or fifteen thousandths of an inch.

What this means is that a smoke particle on your read/write head is the
equivalent of taking a basketball 25 inches in diameter and trying to put it
in a 2.7 inch wide hold.  A fingerprint on either surface is like taking a
medicine ball 65 inches in diameter and trying to put it in that same 2.7 inch
wide hold.  You get the idea.

Now don't run out and sterilize your room, and don't pack up the computer for
fear you may ruin it by using it.  Just be a little more careful of your work
area, your equipment, and what or who you have around it.  Maintain a proper
environment for your equipment, and prolong its usefulness as well as saving
your valuable data and software.
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