Heard of Spinrite software?

[SIW Editor]

Anyone here heard of Spinrite software being used for CCTV DVRs?
I've heard of this product being used for repairs of standard PC drives, even Tivo type DVRs...wondering if anyone thinks it would have applicability for DVRs used for surveillance...

http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm

It seems like they recommend it for regular drive testing and repair (which is not really practical in our business when a DVR is sitting in the back room of a business so many times), but thought it might be applicable for drive recovery if that was the cause of a DVR failure.... What do you think? Relevant for the professional security industry?


Geoff
SecurityInfoWatch.com

[MetzLyov]

Fairly good utility tool and yes, we used them before and still have them.

Nothing special if you ask me. It is just one of the tools we use to recover video from hard drives that mainly going bad and sometimes, when totally dead...

Keep in mind, this software does not provide "fix all" environment. It is a good utility to recover what it can from hard drives, but you also will need other tools and utilities for more in-depth recovery of data or video.

We use this, as well as others to transfer good video from defective hard drives to new set of hard drives... One major advantage that this software has is its ability to work with various file systems - thus is worth the $89.00 that they charge..

Depending which DVRs you operate, they will come in various type of file systems, from Windows to Linux, etc... This software offers the most cost effective, yet functional solution to recover data which otherwise is not recoverable using conventional methods (this does not apply to proprietary file systems from various makers, i.e. Sanyo and few others..)

[MetzLyov]

Few additional notes about the make of this software, who is the Gibson Research...

One of their utilities that we use extensively called ShieldUP and LeakTest. The first one checks for any open ports that you may have forgotten to close and makes recommendation on how to close them by running external to your machine (to avoid hacking of your machines) and the second one identifies any "leakage" of data to and from your machine that you have not authorized... it is a utility that you download and run in your machine and checks any leak that may exist to and from Internet...

GRC has other utilities that you can find useful... and here is the url: http://www.grc.com/default.htm

[N. A. Corbier]

Gibson is a crazy man, and to those who are computer literate, his site will prove hours of amusement.

That said... Some of his utilities are actually pretty good. ShieldsUP has been around forever (and a day), and is one of the first external based port scanners out there.

While I would prefer hooking a linux box to the network and using nmap and nessus to see what's "going on," online port scanners are a quick fix.

The other problem with GRC, especially for the non-computer literate, is that Steve Gibson's writing style alternates from "How cool I am" to "scare the $#@% out of you!"

[MetzLyov]

I concur.. he was and still is crazy (I will even call him nut case), but what does it make us when we listen or read about what he says, or even better, use his utilities??

I used his utilities over ten years.. .In most part, they do exactly what it says... Yes, we can run Linux based or even better, FreeBSD based utilities similar to what he has done, but why go through expense if it is avail for free?

[craig333]

Crazy? I've listened to his show many times. I certainly wouldn't characterize him that way.

[MetzLyov]

Crazy? I've listened to his show many times. I certainly wouldn't characterize him that way.

Hey bud, I meant it in a good way... If he was bad, I would not have used his ideas and utilities for more than 10 years... including the product that started this thread...

[craig333]

Gotcha I love his little free utilities. I'm so used to bloatware that when I download of his I'm waiting for it start, not realizing it was done while I was yawning.

[WeAreNotAlone]

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On Steve Gibson of www.grc.com being a crazy man..


It was not long ago that anyone that thought the world was not flat, was not the center of the solar system was deemed crazy.

Ditto on those crazy Wright brothers who brought us the airplane, and those persons that brought us "indoor plumbing", electricity, the telephone, air-conditioning...

PS: I guess that is what I'm trying to say is some of the best ideas comes from those that think outside the box.... .


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[davis002]

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On Steve Gibson of www.grc.com being a crazy man..


It was not long ago that anyone that thought the world was not flat, was not the center of the solar system was deemed crazy.

Ditto on those crazy Wright brothers who brought us the airplane, and those persons that brought us "indoor plumbing", electricity, the telephone, air-conditioning...

PS: I guess that is what I'm trying to say is some of the best ideas comes from those that think outside the box.... .


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Hello Steve

[WeAreNotAlone]

Hello Steve

Heard the expression, "You're barking up the wrong tree"?

I'm not Steve... I'm just saying that most of the best idea's come from those people that think outside the box.


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