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written", but also pointing out that a read-only run could be beneficial: "SpinRite's Level 1 is a read-only scan, and doing that on an SSD makes a lot of sense. Do a read-only scan of an SSD, it'll show the SSD's controller that it's got a problem reading a sector, and then it'll map that out or rewrite it in order to strengthen that sector, if possible. So that ends up being a value for SpinRite on solid-state drives." Also, Gibson responded to a question on his website that "SpinRite works on thumb drives and on all other solid state drives".
22:
128:
553:
S.M.A.R.T. data when available helps long-term disk maintenance and failure prediction. GRC said in 2006 that this issue would be resolved in version 6.1, anticipated to be a free-of-charge upgrade for SpinRite 6.0 users. As of June 2022, SpinRite version 6.0 continued to be current, unable to function with systems that utilize EFI bios, with unchanged price.
600:
Spinrite, although it is sometimes resolved in a later BIOS update. In case of a motherboard compatibility issue, Spinrite say that drives can always be temporarily connected to another motherboard where "SpinRite will almost certainly agree to operate without trouble". Drive size is not mentioned as a factor.
363:
tool. At the time SpinRite was designed, hard drives often had a defect list printed on the nameplate, listing known bad sectors discovered at the factory. In changing the drive's interleave, SpinRite needed to be able to remap these physical defects into different logical sectors. SpinRite therefore
552:
drives are supported, SATA controllers that include a processor and diagnostic software can limit SpinRite's ability to obtain and display S.M.A.R.T. data ("thin controller" SATA controllers do not have this limitation). This data monitor does not affect SpinRite's recovery and diagnostics ability;
1062:
STEVE: And SpinRite 6.1 timing, I have no idea. It is, however, the next major thing I'm going to do. It will be a free upgrade for everyone who has 6.0, oh these many years. And the target is to catch it up with things that have happened since.... And then we'll see where we are. I would love
411:
on the succession of results thus obtained, SpinRite is, according to its maker, often able to "reconstruct" data from damaged sectors, and even in those cases in which complete reconstruction proves impossible, SpinRite is able to extract all intact bits from a partially unreadable, and write them
406:
and unbuffered disk read performance, and direct hardware-level access, whereby the drive's internal controller interacts directly with the program, rather than through the operating system. This, in turn, allows dynamic head repositioning, whereby, when reading a faulty sector, the reading head is
539:
Gibson said that he could "see absolutely no possible benefit to running SpinRite on a solid-state drive" and later "SpinRite is all about mechanics and magnetics, neither of which exist, by design, in an SSD". In episode 338 Gibson clarified "it is actually detrimental because don't like to be
595:
error and halt with an error message. This appears to be due to a restriction of the FreeDOS operating system (an MS-DOS clone) supplied with
Spinrite. Some users have reported that Spinrite has problems with very large drives, and that using, say, MS-DOS boot disk created from Windows 95 or 98
599:
A December 2011 page on the
Spinrite Web site says that an anomaly, which was named the "Roger anomaly" after its discoverer, is due to an error in the BIOS of some motherboards which does not affect normal use and hence may not be discovered. A motherboard with this problem will not work with
401:
SpinRite is claimed by its developer to have certain unique features, such as disabling of disk write caching, disabling of auto-relocation, compatibility with disk compression, identification of the "data-to-flux-reversal encoder-decoder" used in a drive, and separate testing of
426:
computer, regardless of the operating system installed. It can operate on any attached storage device with a compatible interface. Drives in computers with incompatible processors can be tested by attaching the drive to a compatible computer. Spinrite is distributed as a
379:
SpinRite attempts to recover data from drives that the operating system cannot read. When the program encounters errors reading data, it tries to read the sector up to 2000 times, in order to determine, by comparing the successive results, the most probable value of each
137:
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In certain cases, Spinrite can only analyze somewhere between the first 128 gigabytes and 1024 gigabytes of a drive depending on whether the drive has 512 bytes per sector or 4096 bytes per sector, and depending on the BIOS in use.
364:
gained its data recovery and testing capabilities as a side-effect of its original purpose. Drive interleave has long ceased to be an issue, but SpinRite continued to be developed, now using its remapping as a data recovery tool.
467:
596:(which refers to itself as MS-DOS version 7, which is otherwise not sold separately), Spinrite will test the entire drive without software error; other users report that this did not resolve the Division Overflow error.
534:
Gibson said "Run Level 2 because Level 1 is not permitted to fix anything" "The difference is both Level 1 and 2 are read-only, and that's the key. You don't want to run Level 4" In episode 194 of the podcast
398:, not failures of circuit boards, motors, or other mechanical parts. When a hard drive's ability to read data slows and or begins unreliable, SpinRite may recover data that then can be copied to another drive.
407:
deliberately moved backwards and forwards many times, by varying amounts, in the hope that each time it returns to the sector, it may come to rest in a slightly different position. By performing
621:
Some public reviewers doubt SpinRite's ability to "refresh" aging drives, and "recovery" of sectors marked as "damaged" is considered by some to be undesirable and counter-productive.
376:, and floppy disks, plus SSD Solid State Drives. It analyzes their contents and can refresh the magnetic disk surfaces or flash memory storage to allow them to operate more reliably.
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479:
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magazine in 1989 listed SpinRite as among the "Distinction" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating that while alternatives had appeared, "for now, SpinRite is our pick".
384:. The data is then saved to the original location or to a location on the same disk; it does not save data elsewhere. In this respect, SpinRite differs from most
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388:
software, which usually provides (and recommends) an option to save the recovered data onto another disk, or onto a separate partition on the same disk.
530:, but running in a higher-level mode than 1 or 2 is detrimental, as it wears the SSD by writing to it unnecessarily. In episode #387 of the podcast
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336:, reading and rewriting data to resolve and retrieve data that is unreadable by DOS or Windows. The first version was released in 1987 by
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computer, allowing it to scan a computer's storage medium. It does not depend on the operating system installed on the computer.
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This limits SpinRite to access a maximum of 268,435,456 sectors. Once SpinRite reaches track number 65,535 it will experience a
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36:
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MS-DOS-compatible operating system and the
Spinrite program itself. Version 6 is compatible with hard disks containing any
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482:(S.M.A.R.T.) parameters and control of partial scanning within a specified percentage range. Version 5 was limited to
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method when addressing the hard drive. This 28-bit addressing scheme is broken down as:
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486:(PATA, IDE) hard drives; version 6 may, on suitable motherboards, work on newer
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On June 6, 2022, v6.0 was the only version offered for sale on the GRC Web site
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back, or copy them to a new block, thereby minimizing the amount of data lost.
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502:—that can be made visible to MS-DOS through the addition of controller
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SpinRite tests the data surfaces of writeable magnetic disks, including IDE,
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In May 2013 Steve Gibson announced the start of work on
Spinrite 6.1 and 7.
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1076:"How to fix Spinrite's Division Overflow Error when scanning larger drives"
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0.259 MB executable, 1.40 MB bootable disk image with FreeDOS OS
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executable program which can create a bootable drive containing both the
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Version 6 offers full access to the entire disk surface regardless of
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1078:. Neowin Forums: A Collection of Essential Guides. October 20, 2011.
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905:. Gibson Research Corporation Internet Newsgroup Discussion Forums
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1147:(Criticism in 2000 of SpinRite's stated operating principles)
988:"Does SpinRite TRULY work? - selected feedback and responses"
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to move on to 7.0 and add a bunch of new features, as well.
992:
Cumulative, last entry as of June 2022 dated 2 July 2019.
1159:"The HDD Oracle. • View topic - Deconstructing SpinRite"
332:
for scanning RAS Random Access
Storage devices such as
210:
822:"Anticipate Drive Problems Early with SpinRite v6.0"
494:
hard drives, and with any other type of drive—
340:. The current version, 6.1, was released in 2024.
1134:"Re: NEW PPPOE protocol for WIN 2000, works great""
480:
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and
Reporting Technology
347:medium (such as a CD, DVD or USB flash drive) on a
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526:Spinrite can be run and can be effective on
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972:. Episode 338. grc.com. February 2, 2012.
926:"Security Now! Transcript of Episode #387"
903:"It's time for some more work on SpinRite"
736:
734:
241:(doesn't use OS of host PC) runnable from
119:
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
1049:from the original on December 22, 2021.
950:. Episode 194. grc.com. April 30, 2009.
465:
716:. Episode 410. TWiT.tv. June 26, 2013.
641:
690:from the original on February 27, 2024
666:from the original on 27 February 2024.
42:Please improve this article by adding
7:
873:Goldstein, Leon A. (July 19, 2004).
820:Zeltzer, Jay S. (August 10, 2005).
1045:. Episode 340. February 16, 2012.
924:Gibson, Steve (January 16, 2013).
654:Gibson, Steve (25 February 2024).
14:
1132:Navas, John (February 26, 2000).
849:"PCNet File Catch - SpinRite 6.0"
394:says he designed SpinRite to fix
792:Mainelli, Tom (August 2, 2004).
135:
126:
20:
187:6.1 / February 25, 2024
1006:"SATA Operation with SpinRite"
875:"SpinRite 6.0 for Linux Users"
770:. Episode 155. July 31, 2008.
656:"SpinRite v6.1 Final Release!"
631:List of data recovery software
565:SpinRite error on large drives
1:
901:Gibson, Steve (May 9, 2013).
742:"SpinRite Exclusive Features"
44:secondary or tertiary sources
1121:. January 1989. p. 327.
1095:. grc.com. December 20, 2011
824:. sysopt.com. Archived from
254:Any PC with BIOS or UEFI+CSM
764:"BailiWicked Domain Attack"
710:"Interesting Intel History"
660:Gibson Research Corporation
581:Cylinder (16-bits): 0–65535
164:; 37 years ago
153:Gibson Research Corporation
1225:
1204:Assembly language software
794:"SpinRite 6 to the Rescue"
847:Watkins, Don (May 2005).
544:S.M.A.R.T. on SATA drives
470:SpinRite 2.0, circa 1991.
437:logical volume management
217:
176:
134:
125:
1037:"Listener Feedback #137"
966:"Listener Feedback #136"
1093:"Bad BIOS Motherboards"
944:"Listener Feedback #65"
439:or file system such as
415:SpinRite is written in
343:SpinRite is run from a
1194:Data recovery software
587:Sector (8-bits): 0–255
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471:
189:; 7 months ago
31:relies excessively on
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469:
226:x86 assembly language
828:on November 25, 2005
575:cylinder-head-sector
409:statistical analysis
678:"Security Now #963"
584:Head (4-bits): 0–15
122:
1199:Hard disk software
567:
522:Solid state drives
472:
453:Linux file systems
422:, and runs on any
283:Hard disk recovery
1163:www.hddoracle.com
1115:"The BYTE Awards"
457:HFS+ For Mac OS X
451:as well as other
429:Microsoft Windows
420:assembly language
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285:and maintenance
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851:. PCNet Online
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506:or add-on DOS
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1042:Security Now!
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880:Linux Journal
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537:Security Now!
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532:Security Now!
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484:AT Attachment
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424:PC-compatible
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57: –
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52:
51:Find sources:
45:
39:
38:
34:
29:This article
27:
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18:
17:
1189:DOS software
1166:. Retrieved
1162:
1153:
1146:
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1118:
1109:
1099:November 21,
1097:. Retrieved
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1056:February 27,
1054:. Retrieved
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1010:. Retrieved
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909:February 16,
907:. Retrieved
896:
886:November 21,
884:. Retrieved
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855:November 21,
853:. Retrieved
842:
832:November 21,
830:. Retrieved
826:the original
815:
805:November 21,
803:. Retrieved
797:
787:
777:November 21,
775:. Retrieved
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758:
746:. Retrieved
723:November 21,
721:. Retrieved
713:
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694:February 27,
692:. Retrieved
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557:Large drives
547:
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476:partitioning
473:
463:and others.
414:
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378:
371:
358:
342:
338:Steve Gibson
325:
324:
269:Available in
148:Developer(s)
141:SpinRite 6.1
117:
102:
93:
83:
76:
69:
62:
50:
30:
1012:January 29,
930:www.grc.com
617:Controversy
490:(SATA) and
296:Proprietary
211:[±]
1183:Categories
1051:Transcript
990:. GRC.com.
974:Transcript
952:Transcript
772:Transcript
718:Transcript
637:References
488:Serial ATA
361:interleave
334:hard disks
222:Written in
194:2024-02-25
66:newspapers
55:"SpinRite"
33:references
1168:April 16,
1138:Newsgroup
748:August 8,
744:. grc.com
604:Reception
315:/spinrite
237:Included
96:July 2008
1047:Archived
685:Archived
664:Archived
625:See also
500:FireWire
404:buffered
368:Features
345:bootable
326:SpinRite
250:Platform
121:SpinRite
1140::
799:PCWorld
508:drivers
498:, 1394/
443:or 32,
433:FreeDOS
355:History
302:Website
291:License
272:English
239:FreeDOS
192: (
167: (
80:scholar
548:While
517:Issues
392:Gibson
82:
75:
68:
61:
53:
688:(PDF)
681:(PDF)
441:FAT16
328:is a
87:JSTOR
73:books
1170:2024
1119:BYTE
1101:2013
1058:2012
1014:2010
911:2023
888:2013
857:2013
834:2013
807:2013
779:2013
750:2019
725:2013
696:2024
610:BYTE
550:SATA
528:SSDs
504:BIOS
496:SCSI
461:TiVo
449:Ext3
445:NTFS
374:SATA
317:.htm
311:.com
309:.grc
278:Type
260:Size
169:1987
162:1987
59:news
492:USB
417:x86
382:bit
313:/sr
307:www
243:DOS
35:to
1185::
1161:.
1136:.
1117:.
1084:^
1060:.
1039:.
997:^
968:.
946:.
928:.
877:.
865:^
796:.
766:.
733:^
712:.
683:.
662:.
658:.
644:^
510:.
478:,
459:,
455:,
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46:.
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976:.
954:.
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913:.
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859:.
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698:.
196:)
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103:(
98:)
94:(
84:·
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63:·
40:.
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