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For anyone looking for tools that do this, it seems like a good opportunity to mention Steve Gibson’s Validrive tool [0] if anyone out there is trying to help f

For anyone looking for tools that do this, it seems like a good opportunity to mention Steve Gibson’s Validrive tool [0] if anyone out there is trying to help family and friends who might be scared off by a CLI tool, and I believe it’s non-destructive. I’m glad to see more awareness of this issue and entrants into the space. - https://www.grc.com/validrive.htm https://www.grc.com/validrive.htm

jayrot 2y ago
It warms my heart to see that Steve's website appears frozen in time (and works just fine). I bought Spinrite nearly two decades ago and it saved my bacon more than once. Also loved to listen to him and Leo on Security Now in the very early days of podcasts ("netcasts" lol).
- haswell 2y ago
  Security Now is still going strong and I listen weekly! And Steve recently committed to continuing past 1000 episodes (he was previously planning to wind things down). He’s continuing to do awesome work and I deeply appreciate him for it.
- cirrus3 2y ago
  Steve is an interesting guy and while his website and software development methods are downright ancient, I would trust his programs over almost any other vendor. SpinRite has saved me also. I'd encourage anyone who isn't familiar with him to check out the Security Now podcast. I have been listening since 2005.
neallindsay 2y ago
I was surprised that when he bought 20 cheap "1 or 2 terrabyte" thumb drives, all of them were frauds. This was on Amazon just this past September.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Really? You were surprised? Something too good to be true actually turned out not to be true? From Amazon no less? I'm guessing you forgot the /s at the end of your comment
- rob74 2y ago
  Well yeah, if you take a look at the "group photo" (https://www.grc.com/validrive/drives.jpg https://www.grc.com/validrive/drives.jpg), you can see that all of them are either no-name, have "brands" like "Blanbok+" and "Dianww", and one of them is even a borderline counterfeit SanDisk product (the SD card). I suspect that if he had bought a (non-counterfeit) product from brands such as Kingston or SanDisk, he would have got the actual advertised capacity (although probably not as cheaply).

jayrot 2y ago

It warms my heart to see that Steve's website appears frozen in time (and works just fine). I bought Spinrite nearly two decades ago and it saved my bacon more than once. Also loved to listen to him and Leo on Security Now in the very early days of podcasts ("netcasts" lol).

haswell 2y ago
Security Now is still going strong and I listen weekly! And Steve recently committed to continuing past 1000 episodes (he was previously planning to wind things down). He’s continuing to do awesome work and I deeply appreciate him for it.
cirrus3 2y ago
Steve is an interesting guy and while his website and software development methods are downright ancient, I would trust his programs over almost any other vendor. SpinRite has saved me also. I'd encourage anyone who isn't familiar with him to check out the Security Now podcast. I have been listening since 2005.

neallindsay 2y ago

I was surprised that when he bought 20 cheap "1 or 2 terrabyte" thumb drives, all of them were frauds. This was on Amazon just this past September.

dylan604 2y ago
Really? You were surprised? Something too good to be true actually turned out not to be true? From Amazon no less? I'm guessing you forgot the /s at the end of your comment
rob74 2y ago
Well yeah, if you take a look at the "group photo" (https://www.grc.com/validrive/drives.jpg https://www.grc.com/validrive/drives.jpg), you can see that all of them are either no-name, have "brands" like "Blanbok+" and "Dianww", and one of them is even a borderline counterfeit SanDisk product (the SD card). I suspect that if he had bought a (non-counterfeit) product from brands such as Kingston or SanDisk, he would have got the actual advertised capacity (although probably not as cheaply).