Just copy SpinRite.exe to the ReadSpeed created USB stick, boot from it, hit ESC at the RS splash screen to get to a C: prompt, then run SpinRite. Please note: You will be subject to the various limitations of SpinRite 6.0 until SpinRite 6.1 is released. And, No, there is no specific release date for SR 6.1. SpinRite 6.0 is now available for immediate purchase, upgrade, and download. This industry-standard data recovery tool is operating system independent, so it. SpinRite is a computer program for scanning magnetic data storage devices such as hard disks.

How do I know if SpinRite 6.0 will work for me?
What drives does SpinRite run on? What does it need?

SpinRite can run on any PC compatible system with a 32 or 64-bit Intel or AMD processor and a color screen. The previous SpinRite v5.0 is available to v6.0 owners who need to run SpinRite on older 16-bit 8086/80286 systems and/or monochrome screens.

SpinRite is self-contained, including its own bootable FreeDOS operating system. It can be used on any operating system and any file system. This means it can run on drives formatted with Windows XP's/Vista's/Windows 7's NTFS and all other older FAT formats (in addition to all Linux, Novell, and all other file systems.) It can be used to pre-qualify and certify unformatted hard drives before their first use. Drives on non-PC platforms, such as Apple Macintosh or TiVo, may be temporarily relocated to a PC motherboard for data recovery, maintenance and repair by SpinRite.

SpinRite provides complete interaction with IDE-interface PATA (parallel ATA) and SATA (Serial ATA) drives, and it can also be used with any other type of drive — SCSI, USB, 1394/Firewire — that can be made visible to DOS through the addition of controller BIOS or add-on DOS drivers. To obtain the best performance, IDE drives can be temporarily removed from their external USB or Firewire cases and attached directly to the PC motherboard.

Note: See the SATA knowledgebase article for specific information about SpinRite v6.0's operation with SATA drives and controllers

I purchased and downloaded the SpinRite program file. Now what?

SpinRite is a single program file that offers completely different services when it is run under Windows or DOS. It should first be run under Windows to choose and create some form of bootable media. You can choose to create a self-booting floppy diskette, a bootable CD-R ISO image file, or to prepare a USB flash drive or other bootable device for booting.
Then, when the media prepared by the Windows-side of SpinRite is booted, the FreeDOS operating system included within SpinRite will boot, and it will, in turn, start SpinRite to begin performing data recovery, maintenance, and repair.
So . . . after you download the SpinRite.exe program, run it under Windows to have it create a bootable media format of your choice. Then shutdown and restart the target system, booting it with the SpinRite bootable media to start the FreeDOS operating system which will automatically run SpinRite under FreeDOS.

I lost my copy of SpinRite. How can I get another?

Your purchase receipt — which you should try not to lose — contains your purchase transaction code. You may visit the customer service page of our web site at any time to enter your purchase transaction number. This will re-display a copy of your original online receipt containing a fresh software download link you may use to retrieve the latest version of our software. You may do this whenever you need to.
If you have also lost your original purchase receipt you may write to us at to have us look up your previous purchase and provide your transaction code. With your request, please provide the eMail address you used at the time of your purchase so that we may locate your previous purchase record.

I have a slow Internet connection. How large is SpinRite?

SpinRite is a single 170 Kbyte downloadable file, so it can be easily and quickly obtained through even the slowest Internet connections.

How fast is SpinRite?

At its maximum depth of operation, performing a complete read/write/read/write for data recovery and surface analysis/verification, SpinRite can obtain extremely high speeds of up to 2 gigabytes per minute, or 120 gigabytes per hour. However, that is SpinRite's maximum speed and many things can cause it to run slower and, in some cases, much slower . . .
If SpinRite hits areas of the drive that require attention, it will pause to take as much time as required to recover data, verify the region, and cause the drive to replace any damage with new spare sectors. If the system's or drive controller BIOS does not support UDMA (ultra direct memory access), all data transfers will probably be slower, if the drive does not support read and/or write caching and/or read-ahead, SpinRite's operation will be slower. And if the drive is non-IDE or running over a USB or Firewire link, SpinRite will likely run slower.
So 2 gigabytes per minute is a best-case speed with a modern drive, high-performance 80-pin cabling, and motherboard or controller supporting Ultra DMA transfers.

Can SpinRite low-level format my IDE, EIDE, or SCSI drive?

No software of any sort can truly low-level format today's modern drives. The ability to low-level format hard drives was lost back in the early 1990's when disc surfaces began incorporating factory written 'embedded servo data'. If you have a very old drive that can truly be low-level reformatted, SpinRite v5.0 will do that for you (which all v6.0 owners are welcome to download and run anytime). But this is only possible on very old non-servo based MFM and RLL drives with capacities up to a few hundred megabytes.

Does SpinRite support hard drive SMART capability?

Yes. SpinRite supports SMART more completely and usefully than anything else ever has. Upon first use, SpinRite activates and enables a drive's disabled SMART subsystem. When SpinRite is not actively running on the drive, the 'static' state of the drive's SMART data is displayed. When SpinRite is running on a drive, the drive's SMART data — both the standard SMART parameters and the more detailed SMART event counters — are continuously polled, monitored, and displayed. Much more useful information about the true health and robustness of a drive can be gained by monitoring the SMART system's feedback while the drive is under an actual workload. No other software has ever done this.

Note: Some default SATA configurations can limit SpinRite's ability to obtain SMART information

Spinrite 6.0 Download