Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:18085 comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d:747 Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!vsi1!octopus!pete From: pete@octopus.UUCP (Pete Holzmann) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d Subject: Re: Steve Gibson's "SpinRite" product Summary: Best thing since sliced bread Keywords: Non-destructive low-level format; interleave optimization Message-ID: <313@octopus.UUCP> Date: 16 Aug 88 05:12:36 GMT References: <989@acornrc.UUCP> Reply-To: pete@octopus.UUCP (Pete Holzmann) Distribution: na Organization: Octopus Enterprises, Cupertino CA Lines: 41 In article <989@acornrc.UUCP> bob@acornrc.UUCP (Bob Weissman) writes: >Has anyone used Gibson's "SpinRite"? > >"SpinRite" claims it can perform a non-destructive low-level format >while optimizing interleave. > >This feature in itself would probably make this product worth the $59 >list price, assuming it really speeds up my disk transfers. I have used it. It does everything he claims. It is wonderful. It is better than wonderful. It also has some problems [he doesn't make claims about those now, does he? :-)] The fixable ones should be fixed in the next version, coming out in a while (don't hold your breath): 1) First use of the program takes pretty long (several-many hours), especially if your disk has lots of bad sectors. My worst case: used it on a 10MB drive that had been through a fire, then used for several years. It had >5MB of bad sectors marked. Took >24 hours to check and eliminate all bad sectors. It has worked perfectly ever since (many months- I believe since January or so). 2) When it finds a non-correctable bad sector in the middle of a file that you haven't used in a long time, it fixes the problem, giving you as much of the data back from the sector as is possible. BUT IT DOESN'T TELL YOU WHICH FILE HAD BAD DATA. That's left as an exercise for the user. This will be fixed. In the meantime, it is better than nothing. And perhaps running a Norton Disk Test first would answer those questions. 3) It doesn't understand partitions >32MB (SpeedStore, etc). To be fixed. In spite of these problems, this is my current favorite for "Utility program that I wish I had written". Pete -- OOO __| ___ Peter Holzmann, Octopus Enterprises OOOOOOO___/ _______ USPS: 19611 La Mar Court, Cupertino, CA 95014 OOOOO \___/ UUCP: {hpda,pyramid}!octopus!pete ___| \_____ Phone: 408/996-7746