-
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.)
Work on it haven't even started. Steve is working on some other products before he goes back to SpinRite.
I think if you asked Steve directly, he'd say that it is unknowable how long it will take, but that it will take as long as it takes. In my estimation you shouldn't expect to see it offered for sale anytime before 2027.
I kinda regret having to say this but I do think Steve is taking on a lot of work, largely because it fascinates him, and there's nothing wrong with that, but...
There's DNS Benchmark in three incarnations, Security Now! preparation and presentation, forum-checking, programs and updates, Laurie(?) his wife, and his life.
But USB is everywhere, and it's going to get harder and harder to run SpinRite on BIOS-based boards.
We love you, Steve, but time's a-ticking. And think of the (concessional) upgrade riches...!
PS Happy Birthday wishes for your imminent big-0.
There's DNS Benchmark in three incarnations, Security Now! preparation and presentation, forum-checking, programs and updates, Laurie(?) his wife, and his life.
But USB is everywhere, and it's going to get harder and harder to run SpinRite on BIOS-based boards.
We love you, Steve, but time's a-ticking. And think of the (concessional) upgrade riches...!
PS Happy Birthday wishes for your imminent big-0.
Still waiting for Project-X. I'm getting older and older, would *REALLY* like to see it in my lifetime.
There is only one of Steve and his plate is currently overflowing. After the current DNSB project it looks like Beyond Recall, ValiDrive v2.0, and perhaps a free tool to address some of the feature-itis of Windows 11. And then . . .
SpinRite 7 Win App. My perception is that this would be a simple (and free?) Windows app, running in the background, limited to scanning external USB drives using Windows' native USB drivers. It would take exclusive control of the USB drive being scanned (like ValiDrive now does) while allowing the user to use other Windows apps and do other things in the foreground. As such it would essentially complete the promise Steve made to SpinRite 6.0 users so long (10+ years) ago that SpinRite 6.1 did not deliver on.
And while all of this is going on there will always be the inevitable (unplanned and unanticipated, but necessary) diversions that will require some of Steve's time.
And then, at long last . . . SpinRite 7.0 (7 Pro?) - the full app. Given all of the above I do not see this major project starting until sometime in the first half of 2026. Once this project does start I see it maybe taking about 2 years (give or take) to the initial release of SR 7. This release will include UEFI-BIOS dual boot capability and full native USB and NVMe driver support (presumably based on customizing the plain vanilla drivers included in RTOS-32), thus addressing the major shortcomings of SpinRite 6.1.
As SR 7 will be a pure 32 bit app the sky will be essentially the limit (along with Steve's time
) for new features for SpinRite 7.x.
SpinRite 7 Win App. My perception is that this would be a simple (and free?) Windows app, running in the background, limited to scanning external USB drives using Windows' native USB drivers. It would take exclusive control of the USB drive being scanned (like ValiDrive now does) while allowing the user to use other Windows apps and do other things in the foreground. As such it would essentially complete the promise Steve made to SpinRite 6.0 users so long (10+ years) ago that SpinRite 6.1 did not deliver on.
And while all of this is going on there will always be the inevitable (unplanned and unanticipated, but necessary) diversions that will require some of Steve's time.
And then, at long last . . . SpinRite 7.0 (7 Pro?) - the full app. Given all of the above I do not see this major project starting until sometime in the first half of 2026. Once this project does start I see it maybe taking about 2 years (give or take) to the initial release of SR 7. This release will include UEFI-BIOS dual boot capability and full native USB and NVMe driver support (presumably based on customizing the plain vanilla drivers included in RTOS-32), thus addressing the major shortcomings of SpinRite 6.1.
As SR 7 will be a pure 32 bit app the sky will be essentially the limit (along with Steve's time
) for new features for SpinRite 7.x.He has stated the rationale for his development plans. It fits with his time, his interest, and his coin. I think he is missing a great opportunity, as there is an industry need for SpinRite 7. A a three plus year wait is missing the boat.
There are so many posts in other forums with people complaining about slow boot times on SSD's. It is highly likely that this is due to loss of capacitive charge in the SSD cells that have not been written to in a long time. I have not found any free tools that would benchmark the read speed by sections to quantify if this was the problem. This is a missed opportunity for an SR type app that any average user could use to easily correct the problem.
There are so many posts in other forums with people complaining about slow boot times on SSD's. It is highly likely that this is due to loss of capacitive charge in the SSD cells that have not been written to in a long time. I have not found any free tools that would benchmark the read speed by sections to quantify if this was the problem. This is a missed opportunity for an SR type app that any average user could use to easily correct the problem.
Right. There is also the problem with loss of capacitive charge in the SSD cells that are read frequently/repeatedly.
Currently we have either the 3 point benchmark built into SpinRite 6.1 or the 5 point benchmark by ReadSpeed v1. Steve has commented that a future SpinRite 7x version would be able to do a much finer resolution benchmark and then apply Level 3 with surgical precision.
@Bplayer "... I have not found any free tools that would benchmark the read speed by sections to quantify if this was the problem ..."
Free https://hddscan.com/ and free https://www.hdtune.com/ can draw access and data transfer response graphs in less than a minute or as long as it takes for precision. Fee HD Tume is more accurate than free HD Tune. Free HDDScan can draw a write graph ( destructive ).
@Bplayer "... Typo "Free HD Tume"? ..."
Ooops, thanks - fixed - HD Tune.
@miquelfire "... paid instead of fee ..."
Yeah, just the matching pattern of fee versus free.
- - - - -
Only the current fee 'paid' version of https://www.hdtune.com/ promises to accurately graph SSDs, the older free version is a little wonky, though still way more useful than nothing, I run it daily on demand from within Windows, it only takes a minute, and I see immediately if various areas of my SSDs are slowing down, though I also see the greater precision with which the more updated fee 'paid' current version draws a more accurate graph.
I don't think @Steve Gibson has expressed much of an engagement with read write access responsiveness grapns, though much of GRC is quite visual, such as the scaatter graphs at GRC's DNS Spoffability Test https://www.grc.com/dns/dns.htm but I would love to see even 3 or 4 dimensional graphs of our SSDs comparatively over time, seeing how they almost immediately drop to 1/2 perfor,ance over much of the drive, then as low as 10% or less at some points - ouch.
A picture paints an immediate impression:
I decided to buy an old dell desktop for $90 on Amazon, took a removable 5inch drive bay from an old tower case I had laying around and use that and a 2.5 inch to 5 inch tray for the removable bay enclosure .. Boot it from a usb stick and run spinrite 6.1 on it for all my drive testing.. My self contained usb drives that I use for convenient backups are nowadays slow and cheap if they die... I tested about 12 old mechanical drives and only had 1 that failed .. all other refreshed fine .. Still useful and now I don't care how long it takes to run because that is all I use that pc for anyway...
Similar threads
