[pchelpers] Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Simply Computers] SpinRite or Scandisk]]

Hi Don,

Sunday, April 24, 2005, 12:16:24 AM, you wrote:

DSn> I've read pros and cons about using Scandisk and how much better
DSn> SpinRite is ($89.00) Thoughts?

DSn> When I set up Scandisk in Win98 setups, I always check the box to
DSn> fix errors automatically. I always check the box to delete the
DSn> strings (Whatever they're called) instead of saving them as a
DSn> file in the root directory. After a while you have a ton of those
DSn> files in the root directory. You can't open them to read them, or
DSn> at least I have not been able to do so.

DSn> Why would I not want to setup Scandisk this way? I have read, by
DSn> the maker of SpinRite, that ScanDisk deletes anything that it
DSn> cannot read. Is that true? and is it bad?

SpinRite is a tool for recovering data from bad spots on hard drives,
and testing drives carefully for bad spots or other problems. It's
primarily a technician tool.

The "strings" that you mention are lost clusters; this is where the
FAT indicates that some clusters are allocated, yet there's nothing in
the directory structure which refers to those clusters. Sometimes
these FILExxx.CHK files contain readable data. I wouldn't try
recovering executables from FILExxx.CHK files, on the off-chance that
they were created to hide a worm/virus. As far as I know, lost
clusters and crosslinked clusters are not handled by SpinRite, unless
this has been added in the most recent version.

If you have bad spots on the drive (discovered by a surface scan,
which is what Spinrite does), then you should seriously consider
replacing the drive, most especially if the bad spots come back or if
the manufacturer's diagnostic indicates "hard" errors.

Scandisk makes a minimal attempt to recover data from bad spots,
whereas SpinRite is specifically designed for the purpose of
recovering the data from bad spots.

-- 
Scott.




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