I'm on an internet forum for computer repair and the dumbest Mod on the planet refuses to understand that bits on the surface of the hard drive are not purely on/off, 1/0 digital, but instead have an analog quality to them that sometimes can cause them to be read incorrectly.

I think SpinRite had a graphic that I saw that showed how sloppy some data on the hard drive survace can be; instead of seeing crisp sawtooth 1's and 0's it looks like sloping hills up and down.

Does anyone know where I can find this graphic, and (even better) a link to an explanation of this? I'm going to get kicked off if I keep arguing, so i just want to post a picture and a link and be done with the whole conversation. Thanks in advance.

http://www.grc.com/srphysics.htm (maybe this is what your looking for ? )
www.myharddrivedied.com ( Scott I think has this theory in one of his presentations or podcasts)
https://www1.hitachigst.com/hdd/researc ... index.html
http://www.research.ibm.com/research/gmr/basics.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

Thank you very much. That first link has the exact graphic I was thinking of.

I'm amazed that, after at least 2 years of having seen that graphic, it's still the mental reference I use. It looks exactly as I remember it. Thanks again, I'm going to post it in the thread and let the Dumbest Mod on the Planet make of it what he will. Which I predict will not be very much, but at least anyone that reads his statements that I provide "incorrect information" will understand that there is at least some basis to my assertions.