| − | '''Hard disks''' are mechanical forms of [[computer]] memory consisting of spinning platters of magnetic materials inside a sealed unit.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/technology/hard-disk Hard disk] from britannica.com</ref> Magnetization is used to store compartmentalized information in [[binary]] code, by turning the magnetized piece of the drive "on" or "off." A single hard disk will contain billions of these individual points of information ([[bit]]s) aggregating to larger amounts of storage, such as [[byte]]s or megabytes. Hard disks are vulnerable to [[magnetic field]]s. | + | A '''Hard disk''' drive is a form of [[computer]] memory consisting of spinning magnetic platters inside a sealed case.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/technology/hard-disk Hard disk] from britannica.com</ref> [[Magnetism|Magnetization]] is used to store compartmentalized information in [[binary]] code, by spinning the hard disks (called platters) of the drive past read/write heads, which set small points (which represent [[Bit (computer)|bits]]) to a north or south polarity. A single hard disk will contain billions of these individual points of information, which are aggregated to form larger incraments of storage, such as [[byte]]s or megabytes. Hard disks are vulnerable to [[magnetic field]]s, although they are encased in metal, so the platters themselves are somewhat protected. |