SpinRite thumbs up or..alternatives?

Hello Folks

Thank you all for your posts in this great forum.

I used the Wilders search function and did not see much on Spin Rite, which is sold as a software to diagnose and even repair hard drive damage.
http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

I'm wondering if this could include damage from malware, or incompatable softwares butting heads. I've read that changing security devices can degrade drivers over time... And I've had mixed results using registry cleaners/rebuilders.

1) Does anyone have rants or raves after using SpinRite?

2) Any software similar or better (freeware?)

3) How do you use it? Prevention or disaster recovery??

4) Can it be damaging to use (esp by inexperienced users)

Thanks

Ashwin

 

I have SRv6 and it does everything it claims on my ATA drives, but it freezes when I try to use it on my WD360 SATA drive!

 

Havn't used SpinRite for centuries. Does it work with disks which are formated as WinXP NTFS?

 

Yes but it does not work with RAID.
If you have RAID 1 (mirroring), you could break the array apart (keeping the data) to use it.

 

Hello Ashwin,

#1 It's an outstanding product
#2 I have not found anything better
#3 Both
#4 No

It boots from "FreeDos" so it bypasses your OS. It takes along time 6 hrs or more.

Note: A long time ago. I used to back-up my Quicken data to floppy disk. After a format, I used my Quicken floppies to try & restore my data. One of the disks was damaged, the restore stopped. I used Spinrite on the floppy & was able to restore my data.

Take Care
rico

 

I absolute agree! I used it when i had a FAT32 system. This is the best out there. Going to buy it again for my NTFS system now. It saved several times my life.

 

Thanks for the heads up!!

Ashwin