Screw Driver

[nooyawkah2]

I'm not really that much of a newbie but I've screwed this up in the past. Now that I'm ready to build again I don't want to make the same mistake. I believe you are not supposed to use a magnetized screw driver on electronic parts. I once shorted out a motherboard and that may have been the reason. My problem is I haven't got the dexterity to hold those tiny screws and use a regular screw driver and feel it might be worse to get them stuck under the mobo. Any suggestions appreciated.

[deddard]

A bit of blue-tac or something similar on the head of the screw, put the screwdriver head in it and away you go.
There are divisions on whether to use magnetised screwdrivers in PCs or not - I avoid them wherever possible.

[Paleo Pete]

I avoid magnetized screwdrivers too, but I haven't seen anything that definitely confirms that it causes damage. As far as I know, the only place it would really be risky is around hard drives and floppies, since both store data magnetically, so theoretically a magnetic screwdriver could corrupt data. Realistically, the magnet inside a hard drive that moves the read/write heads across the platter(s) is an incredibly strong beast, you absolutely cannot pull it off a metal surface without sliding it to the corner and applying a lot of pressure to lift one side until it loses its grip. I don't think any magnetic screwdriver I ever saw could even come close, so it would seem unlikely that one could corrupt data, but I don't like to take chances, so I avoid them.

Floppies are a different story, a magnet probably would not hurt the DRIVE, but even a light duty screwdriver would probably corrupt data on a floppy DISK. I've seen plenty warnings to avoid storing floppy disks near magnetic sources such as speakers, they might still have such a warning on the box they come in.

I've used a magnetic screwdriver to build or repair computers when nothing else is available, and never had any problems with it, but as I already pointed out, I avoid taking the chance if possible. I also use one, or a small magnet designed for the purpose, to pick up dropped screws in tight places. (A pair of hemostats works quite well too, and for changing jumpers.)

So avoid it if you can, but it hasn't caused me any problems so far as long as I stay away from floppy disks.

[DigitalJ]

Any normal magnetic field won't cause any damage to the electrical parts of a computer. Even a relatively strong magnet isn't going to hurt the circuitry. The only other parts that would be suceptable to a magnetic field are the drives. What you'd be doing with a screwdriver and a floppy disk is beyond me, and Paleo is right, it would take a magnet capable of lifting over 36,000 lbs to corrupt the data on a hard drive. don't know about you, but I don't have any of those lying around :)

This seems a worthwhile time to note that you are far, far, FAR more likely to do serious damage because of ESD than a magnetic screwdriver.

So use the handy little toy, and use it often, my friend.

[95five-0]

When I am working in a tight space I will use a three prong grabber and hold the head of the srew and then give it a few turns to ensure it is seated and then I use a screwdriver.

[bassman]

I have seen people use a small bit of modeling clay. Keep a ball of it around the shaft of the screwdriver then mold a little over the head of the screw as needed. I typicaly keed a screwdriver on a small speaker magnet. When I need to hold a screw, there is just enough magnatism to do the trick without the screwdriver attaching itself to a critical part, therefore causing ESD ;)