SpinRite?

From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Thu Oct 21 20:59:00 2004

John Foust wrote:

> So to keep this on-topic, when exactly can SpinRite help rescue
> old hard drives and floppies?

   I've used it to good effect in getting data off failing disks. I
never considered using it to extend the life of a disk that's failing.
To me, that feels like trying to get one last drink of the soured milk.

   Anyway, SpinRite will move and map recoverable data to good sectors
so you can *read* the files without read errors. It's slow as the
epoch, but it seems to do a better job of recovery than the other tools
I've used.

   The only time SpinRite didn't do me any good at all was when the
luser with the bad hard drive, after being advised to shut it down till
I got back in town, got antsy and ran MS-DOS Scandisk on it about 20
times. We didn't get much data back.

> And to state the obvious, SpinRite can't raise the dead.
> I tried it on a drive that was alive enough to be recognized
> by the BIOS, but if SpinRite can't make it spin or read,
> it can't help.

   Time for the other kind of medium - a seance. :)


        Doc
Received on Thu Oct 21 2004 - 20:59:00 BST