SpinRite 6.1 is our “catch up” update of SpinRite 6.0 before we head to SpinRite 7. Before beginning work on SpinRite 7 and leaving SpinRite 6 behind forever, we wanted to bring SpinRite 6 as current as we could in any BIOS / DOS / TEXT-based utility. As you'll see below, and when you run SpinRite 6.1 for yourself the first time, that goal has been achieved.
SpinRite now runs directly-connected IDE and SATA drives as fast as they can go (246 seconds to scan an entire 120GB SSD). This is a pace that's practical for even today's largest drives. v6.1 also brings a constellation of new features for both casual and power users. Though we have big plans for SpinRite 7, v6.1 will hold us until v7.0 is ready.
The page below provides a quick summary of what's new and different in v6.1, and SpinRite's online user manual fills in any additional details. GRC is now hosting an active online web forum filled with knowledgeable SpinRite users, many who worked with us throughout v6.1's 3+ year development.
SpinRite has a bright future. During the early stages of SpinRite v6.1's development, we discovered that SpinRite's new native drivers would allow us to accurately locate regions of mass memory which were slow to read. We later discovered that in at least some instances these slow regions were “pre-failure” and that re-writing them could both improve the device's speed and its reliability. SpinRite 7 will be able to accurately map mass storage media performance – both magnetic and solid-state – to provide very early warning of media trouble and to reverse such pending trouble.