Does SpinRite fix failing harddrives or just determine whether it is bad or not??? I have seen a few posts about using SpinRite and was unsure about what it does.
Thanks
Don
SpinRite
Started By donwieber, Dec 31 2011 07:44 AM
46 replies to this topic
#2
jmwills
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Posted 31 December 2011 - 08:07 AM
Yes and no. It can fix a degraded drive to the point where you can recover the data and repair MBR's. Running SpinRite on a regular basis can point to a potential issue.
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#3
geek-accountant
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Posted 31 December 2011 - 12:13 PM
I just looked it up as I wanted to use it. The thing cost $89!! Is it really worth $89 and if so, why?
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#4
Joe_Miner
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Posted 31 December 2011 - 01:25 PM
No. I've had problems with it on my X58 system with it reordering my Boot Order and causing BSOD's till I figured out what had been done to my BIOS. It also went nuts when it saw my 3TB drives. It was far easier to use WD's free diagnostic SW and RMA the bad/failing drive at $6 for 2nd day air. I don't even have an XP system anymore (exept virtually) -- everything I have is W7.
My dad has an old XP system so I may use it on that.
My dad has an old XP system so I may use it on that.
Edited by Joe_Miner, 31 December 2011 - 05:35 PM.
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#5
jmwills
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Posted 31 December 2011 - 03:27 PM
It's totally worth it. Money back guarantee.
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Travel Laptop: Dell XPSL502X 15.6"
Server 2012 - Fractal Arc Midi, CoolerMaster M600 PSU, ASUS P8H67V, Intel i5-2500 CPU w/32GBG-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM, 90 GIG OCZ SSD OS Drive – Roles: Hyper-V (WHS-SharePoint-DC-SQL-Exchange-WSE 2012), Print Server - Rocket RAID 2720 5x2TB
HTPC Build - Silverstone GD05 Case, ASUS P7H55-M PRO, CoolerMaster M600W PSU, Intel i3-530 CPU w/4GB G-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM. OCZ 60GB SSD Drive for the OS with a 120GB WD 2.5" Blue drive for data storage.
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#6
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:04 PM
Does SpinRite fix failing harddrives or just determine whether it is bad or not??? I have seen a few posts about using SpinRite and was unsure about what it does.
Thanks
Don
It doesn't just determine if it's bad or not; it tests each sector. If it runs into an issue with a sector, it will try a bunch of different techniques to read the data from the sector. After it either reads all the sector data successfully or goes through 32,768 attempts, it will write what it could recover to a new sector and flag the old one as bad.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#7
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:22 PM
Yes and no. It can fix a degraded drive to the point where you can recover the data and repair MBR's. Running SpinRite on a regular basis can point to a potential issue.
I would quibble a little with this. Certainly SpinRite often can fix a drive to the point where data can be recovered, and that's valuable enough in its own right, but it can also recover drives that have had an injury due to power failure, sudden shock, or other similar causes. Such drives can then continue to be used indefinitely.
I run SpinRite on a regular basis, say twice a year, to keep my drives in good running order, kinda like a car tuneup. I totally agree, though, that having to run SpinRite often on a drive, or running SR on a drive regularly, and having it find issues on the drive every time, is a definite indication that the drive has issues.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#8
dvn
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:37 PM
What SR level do you guys use to test out a new disk? I'm starting to think that pre-qualifying some of these huge green drives might not be a bad idea.
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#9
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:49 PM
I just looked it up as I wanted to use it. The thing cost $89!! Is it really worth $89 and if so, why?
GA, you would be amazed at their customer service. Once you buy SpinRite, it's yours. You can be anywhere in the world, and if you find you need it and didn't bring it with you, you can simply download it again, as long as you have your receipt number with you.
If you don't have the receipt number, but have access to the internet, you could retrieve your receipt number from your hotmail or gmail account. If you didn't plan ahead that far (shame on you
), you can email GRC Tech Support, give them a few details, and they will send you your receipt number. I've heard of cases where someone emailed them on a holiday Sunday and got an answer in a couple or hours. Almost restores your faith in humanity 
It's totally worth it. Money back guarantee.
Completely agree.
No. I've had problems with it on my X58 system with it reordering my Boot Order and causing BSOD's till I figured out what had been done to my BIOS. It also went nuts when it saw my 3TB drives. It was far easier to use WD's free diagnostic SW and RMA the bad/failing drive at $6 for 2nd day air. I don't even have an XP system anymore (exept virtually) -- everything I have is W7.
My dad has an old XP system so I may use it on that.
I've never heard of SpinRite doing anything like this. I would most definitely email GRC Tech Support and ask for clarification. Please report back what you find out; I would love to know the details.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#10
jmwills
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:54 PM
The iso is so small......perfect for some of those old USB drives to keep in your toolbox for quick fixes. If you perform any type of Tech Support, you need this tool.
Windows 7 Desktop - Antec 100 Case, Intel D8H67BL, OCZ 550W PSU, Intel i3-530 CPU w/16GB G-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM
Server 2012 - Fractal Arc Midi, CoolerMaster M600 PSU, ASUS P8H67V, Intel i5-2500 CPU w/32GBG-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM, 90 GIG OCZ SSD OS Drive – Roles: Hyper-V (WHS-SharePoint-DC-SQL-Exchange-WSE 2012), Print Server - Rocket RAID 2720 5x2TB
HTPC Build - Silverstone GD05 Case, ASUS P7H55-M PRO, CoolerMaster M600W PSU, Intel i3-530 CPU w/4GB G-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM. OCZ 60GB SSD Drive for the OS with a 120GB WD 2.5" Blue drive for data storage.
Travel Laptop: Dell XPSL502X 15.6"
Server 2012 - Fractal Arc Midi, CoolerMaster M600 PSU, ASUS P8H67V, Intel i5-2500 CPU w/32GBG-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM, 90 GIG OCZ SSD OS Drive – Roles: Hyper-V (WHS-SharePoint-DC-SQL-Exchange-WSE 2012), Print Server - Rocket RAID 2720 5x2TB
HTPC Build - Silverstone GD05 Case, ASUS P7H55-M PRO, CoolerMaster M600W PSU, Intel i3-530 CPU w/4GB G-Skill DDR3 1333 RAM. OCZ 60GB SSD Drive for the OS with a 120GB WD 2.5" Blue drive for data storage.
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#11
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 01:35 PM
What SR level do you guys use to test out a new disk? I'm starting to think that pre-qualifying some of these huge green drives might not be a bad idea.
I use Level 4 to burn in all new drives. If they survive that they should be good for a long time.
The iso is so small......perfect for some of those old USB drives to keep in your toolbox for quick fixes. If you perform any type of Tech Support, you need this tool.
For sure. I keep a copy on a YUMI multi-boot USB stick.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#12
geek-accountant
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 02:33 PM
I had a Seagate drive fail on me. Thing would not even format. It had been sitting on the shelf for a few months when I decided to return it to Seagate. They make you run their Seatools on it and get a code. Well it passed the test. So i ran the Long test, and it passed that also. So, now I need to really stress this drive while not counting on it for actual data. But spending $89 doesn't seem like a good deal.
unRAID server 18.5TB
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#13
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 02:43 PM
I had a Seagate drive fail on me. Thing would not even format. It had been sitting on the shelf for a few months when I decided to return it to Seagate. They make you run their Seatools on it and get a code. Well it passed the test. So i ran the Long test, and it passed that also. So, now I need to really stress this drive while not counting on it for actual data. But spending $89 doesn't seem like a good deal.
If it's only for 1 drive (unless the data on it is very valuable) then I agree. I mentally amortized the $89 over the cost of many drives; paid for itself long ago
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#14
geek-accountant
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 04:05 PM
Yep, only for 1 drive. It was in my unRAID server, so no data was lost.
unRAID server 18.5TB
WSS-2011 5TB internal + 4x3TB RAID 5 Mediasonic USB 3.0 external storage
Hyper-V server running 10 VM's(AMD 6 core with 16gig of ram - Raid 5 & Raid 0, plus USB 3 Mediasonic 4 drive enclosure)
pfSense & Untangle (aka, SUPER ROUTER) running as seperate machines
Broadcast server - broadcast the jpeg2RAW podcast - AMD 8 core 4Ghz, 8gig DDR3 1600, RAID 0
The jpeg2RAW podcast site
#15
dvn
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 04:10 PM
...no comment.Yep, only for 1 drive. It was in my unRAID server, so no data was lost.
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#16
geek-accountant
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 06:19 PM
Come on Rich. You know you are just jealous of my unRAID server. But don't worry, you too can have an unRAID server someday.
unRAID server 18.5TB
WSS-2011 5TB internal + 4x3TB RAID 5 Mediasonic USB 3.0 external storage
Hyper-V server running 10 VM's(AMD 6 core with 16gig of ram - Raid 5 & Raid 0, plus USB 3 Mediasonic 4 drive enclosure)
pfSense & Untangle (aka, SUPER ROUTER) running as seperate machines
Broadcast server - broadcast the jpeg2RAW podcast - AMD 8 core 4Ghz, 8gig DDR3 1600, RAID 0
The jpeg2RAW podcast site
#17
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 07:27 PM
Yep, only for 1 drive. It was in my unRAID server, so no data was lost.
Just remember; if you had used SR on those drives before putting them into production, you might not have run into the issue at all.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
#18
geek-accountant
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 07:31 PM
Just remember; if you had used SR on those drives before putting them into production, you might not have run into the issue at all.
That's very true. The drive failed within a week of going into the server. Hey Rich, what server is that again? O'yea, it's my unRAID server!
unRAID server 18.5TB
WSS-2011 5TB internal + 4x3TB RAID 5 Mediasonic USB 3.0 external storage
Hyper-V server running 10 VM's(AMD 6 core with 16gig of ram - Raid 5 & Raid 0, plus USB 3 Mediasonic 4 drive enclosure)
pfSense & Untangle (aka, SUPER ROUTER) running as seperate machines
Broadcast server - broadcast the jpeg2RAW podcast - AMD 8 core 4Ghz, 8gig DDR3 1600, RAID 0
The jpeg2RAW podcast site
#19
dvn
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 07:49 PM
Oh my goodness. Ok, ok. I'm selling my EX495 + my i7 system + my Zune so I can buy enough drives for a monster unRAID server like yours. Hahaha... (*no way I'm selling the Zune. Gonna be a collector's item some day!)
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#20
ikon
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Posted 01 January 2012 - 08:08 PM
Oh my goodness. Ok, ok. I'm selling my EX495 + my i7 system + my Zune so I can buy enough drives for a monster unRAID server like yours. Hahaha... (*no way I'm selling the Zune. Gonna be a collector's item some day!)
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LMFAO
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
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