2009/1/26 James Courtier-Dutton <james.dutton@???>
> 2009/1/26 Andy Smith <andy@???>:
> > Hi,
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 10:52:52AM +0000, Russell Gadd wrote:
> >> I've had good experience with Steve Gibson's Spinrite. There's a ton of
> >> testimonials here
> >> http://www.grc.com/sr/testimonials.htm
> >>
> >> This guy is one of the best, I would trust everything he does.
> >
> > Really?
> >
> >
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gibson_(computer_programmer)#Controversy<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gibson_%28computer_programmer%29#Controversy>
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Andy
> >
>
> spinrite will not help at all with modern computer HDs.
> The IDE controllers hide the actual disk "low level" formatting from
> the PC for very good reasons.
> spinrite might have been good for the older floppy discs and RLL disk
> drives, but is not any use really with modern HDs.
> In fact, spinrite can seriously cause much more damage to an already
> partially damaged disc surface.
>
> --
> Please post to: Hampshire@???
> Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire
> LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
Second response:
Mr. Gadd,
At first I was skeptical (it's in my DNA to be skeptical) of SpinRite
and some claims made about its capabilities. I even did a little
research into both Steve Gibson and SpinRite to hear what some critics
had to say. During this research I came across someone that seemed to
be very educated in the area of magnetic storage that was extremely
critical of both Mr. Gibson and SpinRite (alleging SpinRite's potential
harm). After further research, hearing endless testimonials regarding
SpinRite's success, and most importantly personal experience with the
product, I have reached my own conclusion. I believe that Mr. Gibson
knows what he's doing and SpinRite is a wonderful product. Like any
product, I am sure that it is not 100% free of risk; however, it seems
that Mr. Gibson has taken every precaution in the design of SpinRite to
minimize risks.
Regarding the following quote:
"spinrite will not help at all with modern computer HDs."
You should be highly suspicious of this statement. It seems like a
blind declaration and I would go as far as to say it seems uniformed on
its face. If this were true, then why are there literally hundreds (if
not thousands) of testimonials to the contrary. Just read some of them
here:
http://www.grc.com/sr/testimonials.htm
Now I understand that these could be attacked as either marketing
puffery or even deliberately selecting the good at the exclusion of the
bad. However, if even some of these are true (and I believe that all of
them are), then the above quote is false.
Regarding the following quote:
"In fact, spinrite can seriously cause much more damage to an already
partially damaged disc surface."
Even if this claim of "fact" is what it claims to be, it seems that a
better measure of whether SpinRite is "good for modern HDs" would be
whether the risk of harm multiplied by the actual harm caused by
SpinRigte is substantially outweighed by the probability of success
multiplied by the benefit. I haven't done this calculation, but if I
had to hazard a guess, I would say that SpinRite is very good for modern
HDs. Whatever you believe, I hope that your draw your own conclusion
and that you base it on more that one forum posting.
-- Dustin H. Allen, JD, MBA
