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Indeed Spinrite is a disc scanning and (where physically possible, that is, the disk is not beyond use due to physical damage to it's surface etc) an error recovery tool.? (I have my own licenced copies of 6.0 and now 6.1)
It is OS/data content/Format agnostic, it can happily scan a LIF format disk and do it's work, just as well as with any other OS's file system, as it only works on tracks and sectors.? The content and format of the actual data in the sectors is not important. (I.e.? If the hardware can read it, it can be tested.)
It reads and checks for errors using the established, CRC algorithms and so on, plus the controllers own status flags.
If it finds an error, it tries repositioning the heads, re-approaching from either side of the track to see if there is a better read to be had.? Many drives actually enable the read, while the heads are still settling on-track, so approaching from one side or the other, can make a major difference.
As floppy disk/heads are in full contact (unlike hard drives) that can also physically move contamination around, sometimes making things worse, sometimes getting a good read.
I always run a head cleaning task before and after working with a floppy disk.
Once a sector has been read successfully (if in repair mode) it will be rewritten, and checked that is good too..
In the past day job, I used it to "recover" a couple of HP instrument created floppy disks with 100% success, one was (as it turned out) in LIF format, the other was DOS.
(I even recovered an early iPod drive, after extracting the drive and using an adapter.? The family who owned it were happy and amazed, having been previously told by an Apple store, they are unrepairable.)
It can also test and "refresh" SSD's too, as they can slow down with use.? (Windows machines in particular!)? Just do a run on Level 2, it forces the drives own logic to do most of the job. Then re-writes the recovered data, that will end up physically somewhere else in the SSD memory array, but that has no access speed penalty, unlike a moving head hard drive.
As above, I have my own licenced copies of 6.0 and 6.1, 6.1 has lost the floppy testing ability, but 6.0 still has it.? Steve Gibson (it's author) has said, that 5.x versions are best for floppy drives, but didn't elaborate why.
6.1 is **MUCH** faster when testing hard drives, any licenced owner of 6.0 can apply and get a free update to 6.1
Yes, if you have to buy it, it costs, but for under $100 US, the abilities it gives you to check and often recover troublesome hard drives and floppy media (with 6.0 or earlier) is well worth it.
I wish we had something like it when I was working on the old 14" moving head multi-platter drives "back in the day" (late 70's)? It would likely have mitigated the need to replace a troublesome platter that had developed a bad spot.? (Have to say, that was some of the most satisfying work I've ever been involved in.? The more care you took cleaning and setting a drive up after a platter or head change, the performance measurably improved.? Fun times!)
for more info on Spinrite.
It has got me out of a hole on a couple of occasions, both with earlier Windows machine after a power cut, and more recently on a Linux PC, that also suffered a sudden power outage while accessing the main drive.? (My fault that was, I pulled the wrong plug, while the laptop battery was not present.)? That did take a while with 6.0 on an 80% full 500G drive, but it all came back to life as if nothing had happened. ? (Even GRUB was upset after that unexpected power issue.)
Mr Gibson is also "the explainer in chief" for the "security now" podcast.?? Find that at Also well worth following for /anyone/ involved in anything IT related, at whatever level, professionally, or just helping friends and family stay safe.
Regards to All.
Dave G8KBV.