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SpinRite v6.1 Release #3 Guest:
The 3rd release of SpinRite v6.1 is published and may be obtained by all SpinRite v6.0 owners at the SpinRite v6.1 Pre-Release page. (SpinRite will shortly be officially updated to v6.1 so this page will be renamed.) The primary new feature, and the reason for this release, was the discovery of memory problems in some systems that were affecting SpinRite's operation. So SpinRite now incorporates a built-in test of the system's memory. For the full story, please see this page in the "Pre-Release Announcements & Feedback" forum.
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Be sure to checkout “Tips & Tricks” Dear Guest Visitor → Once you register and log-in please checkout the “Tips & Tricks” page for some very handy tips!
/Steve. -
BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware
To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.
GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.
The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.
You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.
(You may permanently close this reminder with the 'X' in the upper right.)
Agreed!
To add to PHolder's comments:
ReadSpeed.EXE =INCLUDES= InitDisk. ReadSpeed creates a bootable USB stick with a FreeDOS environmernt specifically tailored for running RS.exe (and, soon, SpinRite 6.1).
InitDisk.exe freedosHowever if you are doing RS/SR testing you're better off just using the ReadSpeed.exe to create your bootable USB as that will contain the required files.
When you run "initdisk" without any parameters, it only wipes and formats the USB drive. To make it bootable, you need to run "initdisk /freedos" which will then also install FreeDOS.
Steve did make the RS.exe available separately for those who already have DOS or use other methods of creating bootable DOS USBs (such as on Linux), so this could be used... But there's not much point in using InitDisk.exe with the freedos command when ReadSpeed.exe will do it for you with less hassle.
Because some of us don't run Windows, and need the rs.exe to put on a boot disk created in Linux.
Meant this from the perspective of why would you use InitDisk.exe with the freedos command and copy the RS.exe file not what's the point of the rs.exe file in general.
Unless you use InitDisk on Linux?
I used ReadSpeed to create a bootable USB drive and then copied SpinRite to it as well. I ran ReadSpeed, then when it was done, I tried to find out if SpinRite had any command parameters or switches by typing
C:\> spinrite /?I saw a help screen, but couldn't go anywhere after that. Esc didn't work either, and neither did Alt+Ctrl+Del. I had to physically power off the PC in order to reboot. Is there a way to make a bootable USB where I can run either program one after the other and still get back to the C:\> prompt?
Is this a Mac? SpinRite has keyboard issues with Macs because it tries to read the keyboard hardware directly, and Mac's don't have the necessary hardware.
Go to https://www.grc.com/sr/faq.htm and follow the "How do I make a bootable USB thumb drive??" instructions to make an MS-DOS, not freedos, bootable USB drive. Then put whatever executables you want on it.
Yes, and MS-DOS just might work for you.
freedos and MS-DOS are similar but different. On one of my computers ReadSpeed crashes on the second run under freedos but runs fine under MS-DOS.
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