Can you run Spinrite on an External Hard Drive?

[cmczona]

Hello,
I am wondering if I can run Spinrite to repair an external hard drive. If so how? do you mind walking me through the steps. I'm using Windows 7 it is a WD 320GB External. Thanks in advance

 

[fzabkar]

Data recovery professionals will tell you that SpinRite is a drive killer. This is because it hammers away at bad sectors up to several thousand times hoping for just one good read. This approach can dramatically accelerate the failure of a bad head. Even if it is successful, it then writes the data back to the same drive rather than to a clone.

The best approach is to clone your drive, sector by sector, using a utility (eg ddrescue) that understands how to work around bad media. Then use data recovery software on the clone.

 

[cmczona]

I don't need to clone the drive. I just want to repair it for external hd use. It was my hd but has been replaced already, so that is not the issue.

 

[fzabkar]

In that case just zero-fill the drive and hope that it reallocates any bad sectors. Check the SMART report afterwards.

As for SpinRite, I don't believe that it can access a USB drive.

 

[cmczona]

how do i zero fill a drive?

 

[danwat1234]

With killdisk or another wiping software

 

[Got Milk]

Data recovery professionals will tell you that SpinRite is a drive killer. This is because it hammers away at bad sectors up to several thousand times hoping for just one good read. This approach can dramatically accelerate the failure of a bad head. Even if it is successful, it then writes the data back to the same drive rather than to a clone.

The best approach is to clone your drive, sector by sector, using a utility (eg ddrescue) that understands how to work around bad media. Then use data recovery software on the clone.

I hope that dispelling some of your lack of knowledge with regard to Spinrite is read by others so that they make informed decisions based on the evidence and not what we so often see - conjecture of those poorly informed.

With regard to physical hard drives:
It warrants pointing out that you are completely in error with regard to how hard drives function. Thankfully Steve Gibson and the people at Spinrite (who I am not affiliated with in any way) understand drives better than you do. Spinrite does not "hammer at" a damaged sector. It will examine that sector to determine why, if any, a particular sector is not 'storing' data. In fact, regular utilization of Spinrite, say monthly, will increase the lifespan of said device.

Data is moved someplace else on the drive prior to running the scan on a particular, as you called it, "sector" so it's not hammering anything. It's using analysis and reporting technologies to play with the magnetic properties - such queries will allow it to, often, correcting corrupted data. Additionally, it will deduce from the parts it can read the parts that it cannot read and facilitate a repair. etc.

This is just one of many places you can find an in-depth explanation of Spinrite.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYSB7_QfaFc