Best tool for hand writing on harddrives and then paper?

[ryankb]

Hi, I carry a pen and a sharpie. The pen for taking notes on paper and a sharpie for detailing the user/computer/date on harddrives, but I would like to combine them into one, and I can't seem to find a pen or marker than does the job well. Sharpies obviously bleed through paper pretty badly, and don't look as good as a pen for notes. Pens typically can't write on metal or a harddrive label, as it has some coating on it. Any advise? Thanks in advanced!

 

[Smoblikat]

Maybe im misunderstanding, but do you actually physically write on a HDD for reasons other than its completely dead? The only time to mark a HDD physically is to note that its dead and should not be used, otherwise just use a pen and a sticky note (Maybe a piece of scotch tape if the sticky notes arent so sticky) to write customer information, or note the serial number down and store the information electronically in a spreadsheet, reference it by the S/N later.

 

[ryankb]

Maybe im misunderstanding, but do you actually physically write on a HDD for reasons other than its completely dead? The only time to mark a HDD physically is to note that its dead and should not be used, otherwise just use a pen and a sticky note (Maybe a piece of scotch tape if the sticky notes arent so sticky) to write customer information, or note the serial number down and store the information electronically in a spreadsheet, reference it by the S/N later.

The company I work for writes customer information on the harddrives once we take them from machines, yes. We hold on to them for a little while in case they need their data put on a new harddrive. But sometimes they still remain in the computer and then we can see when it was changed out or if it's from a specific machine previously.

Do you think this is a bad practice? I could take the information down into a sheet as you said.

 

[blackmomba]

Maybe not the best idea from a privacy standpoint.

 

[Smoblikat]

The company I work for writes customer information on the harddrives once we take them from machines, yes. We hold on to them for a little while in case they need their data put on a new harddrive. But sometimes they still remain in the computer and then we can see when it was changed out or if it's from a specific machine previously.

Do you think this is a bad practice? I could take the information down into a sheet as you said.

Personally I think you would be better off not marking a HDD directly if you plan on issuing it out again (even to the same customer). Both from a privacy standpoint (what if you have to RMA a drive?) and from a general cleanliness perspective too, once the HDD is marked it really cant be un-marked. Sticky notes on the disk, or an electronic sheet seems safer and less destructive to me.