Drive Utilities
Ratings and Reviews of Drive Utilities |
Drive Utilities
Your hard, removable and floppy drives are critical components
in your system. After all, your system isn't much good without the
applications
that reside on your hard drive or the data stored on that drive,
removable drives or floppies. Therefore, it is obvious that having a
strategy to protect, optimize and back up the applications and data resident on
them is very important.
If you've ever had a hard drive fail - and we would guess that
nasty experience has happened to all of you at one time or another - and you
DIDN'T have your data backed up, well, you know the pain, time and frustration
that you went through to recover (if possible) all of your work. It's
pretty embarrassing to have to send emails to business associates and colleagues
(or make those apologetic phone calls) asking them to send you BACK documents
that you sent to them! So what to do!
- First, we believe that having software that optimizes and
monitors the "health" of your drives is important. This can be purchased
as a "stand alone" product (and we'll go through those options on this page)
or as part of a system utility suite (see our review at
Utility Suites).
This software will help you do things like defragment your drive, tell you
when components of the drive or sectors on it are failing, and clean up
unwanted data and applications.
- Second, everyone should have a back up strategy. That
strategy can consist of one or more of the following methods:
- Complete "image" of your hard drive (applications, data,
set up) to another storage device (hard drive, specialized back up hardware,
removable storage like a "Zip" drive, tape, etc.) or to a third party
service provider (see our reviews of off-site back up at
Online Backup Services).
- Back up of only "critical" data or just all of your data
or selected files (you don't mind reloading the applications, heck it gives
you a chance to "clean things out" of your system and "start over") again,
the options are any number of hard or removable devices and off site
services.
- Use your in-house LAN and your other systems to "mirror"
each other. In other words, back up and synchronize all the data on
your systems to back up each other. You can do this using some of the
software described below as well as communications software like LapLink and
pcAnywhere which are reviewed on our
Communications Utilities page.
In any case, you should choose a method or methods (and we DO
NOT recommend constantly burning CD's - gets a bit pricey, and not what they
were created for!), that fits the way you work and what you are willing to
contend with should your drive(s) fail. If you can't do anything without
your system, we believe you should use a combination of the above - hard drive
image and off-site back up service - just TO MAKE SURE. And by the way,
once this is all set up, if you spend a little bit of time up front, you'll be
able to automate the whole back up process so it will just "happen" without you
having to manually initiate the process.
So, we hope we've convinced you that the software we're going
to touch on here is VERY IMPORTANT to the health of your business. Let's
take a look at the utilities that are out there and find the one that best meets
your specific expertise, system and working environment!
Some vendors offer more than one package in this
category. We'll review them in table format within that vendor's
detailed review.
Drive Utility Review
Drive Utilities and Back Up Software*
(Rankings - best, 5 symbols,
worst, 1 symbol)
|
Company |
Best For* |
Simple Start-Up |
Cost |
Time Savings |
Ease of Use |
Works With |
Support |
Features |
Overall Rating |
|
3B Software
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii+ |
%%%1/2 |
|
Acronis
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY1/2 |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%% |
|
Allume
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY |
ppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Alsoft
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Ashampoo
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Avanquest
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY+ |
pp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Broderbund
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pp1/2 |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
CyberLink
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp+ |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Detto Technologies
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY |
pppp |
iiii1/2 |
%%%%+ |
|
Diskeeper
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹
|
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii1/2+ |
%%%1/2+ |
|
EMC
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Final Data
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹
|
@@@@ |
YYY+ |
ppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Innovatools
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp1/2 |
iii1/2+ |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Intego
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹
|
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
iolo technologies
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹
|
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
LapLink
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹
|
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Neobyte Solutions
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii |
%%%+ |
|
Nova Development |
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY1/2 |
pppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Omni Group
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii |
%%% |
|
Ontrack
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp1/2 |
iiii1/2 |
%%%% |
|
Sonic
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%% |
|
Symantec
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Uniblue
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp+ |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
VCOM
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY1/2 |
ppp |
iiii1/2 |
%%%% |
* A =
Amateur, R =
Rookie, P =
Pro
3B Software
Simple Start-Up -
¹¹¹¹
3B
Software's Auto Backup Manager Pro is simple to install and set up for use.
Cost - $$$$
Auto Backup
Manager Pro is priced at $19.99.
| Software |
Price |
O/S Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
Auto Backup
Manager Pro |
$19.99 |
Windows |
Drive
Utility Software |
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
If
you don't backup your data, you'll probably be sorry - and lose a ton of
time and money.
Ease of Use -
@@@@
3B
Software's Auto Backup Manager Pro has an easy to understand user interface.
 Works With -
YYY
Auto
Backup Manager Pro is designed for the Windows environment only.
Support
-
ppp
3B Software has a list of tech support topics to help answer your
questions on their web site. If you need more help, email is your only
option.
Features - iii+
Basic backup program with scheduling and password protection.
Overall Rating
- %%%1/2
A good tool at a competitive price.
Acronis
Simple Start-Up -
¹¹¹¹
Acronis' disk utility software is easy to set up and begin using.
Cost - $$$1/2
Pricing
for Acronis products is detailed in the table below.
| Software |
Price |
O/S Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
True Image 11.0 |
$49.99
|
Windows 2000, XP, Vista |
Drive
Utility Software |
- Create an exact copy of PC
- Perform live backups
- Backup data in specific categories
- Backup Microsoft Outlook
- Backup application settings - system state,
password-based archive encryption, exclude files and folders, automatic
catalog of all backups
- Create incremental and differential backups
- Recover entire PC from an image
- Restore specific data
- restore application settings
- boot-time restore
- Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
- Message-level Outlook restore
- Search and explore archives
- Preserve files and folders during restore
- Backup strategies - scheduling
- Create backup archive rules
- E-mail notification
- Backup scheduler
- set and forget
- Smart scheduling - start backup on user idle,
login/logout or other events
- Schedule periodic backup validation
- Drive Cleanser
- File Shredder
- System Cleanup
- PC cloning
- Add a new hard disk
|
Hard disk drives, networked storage devices, FTP servers,
CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R, ZIP, JAZZ, PATA (IDE), SATA, SCSI, SAS,
IEEE 1394, USB 1/2.0, PC-Card storage devices
FAT16/32, NTFS, Linux Ext2/Ext3, ReiserFS, Linux Swap, Raw Images |
|
MigrateEasy 7.0 |
$39.99
|
Windows 98, ME,
NT, 2000, XP, Windows NT Server, 2000 Server, 2000 Advanced Server, 2003
Server |
Drive
Utility Software |
-
Clone an old
hard disk to a new one
-
Automatic and
manual hard disk upgrade modes
-
Install new hard
disk as boot disk or additional storage device
-
Wizard
-
Supports disks
over 180GB
-
Resizes
transferred partitions to match new hard disk size
-
Creates, copies,
moves and deletes partitions
-
Sector-by-sector
support for other partitions and corrupted file systems
-
Pending
operations - first a hard disk installation scenario is created and then
implemented
-
Securely wipes
old disk
-
Allows copy
partitions keeping original HDD unchanged
|
FAT16/32, NTFS,
Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, Linux SWAP |
|
Disk Director Suite 10.0 |
$49.99 |
Windows 98SE NT, ME, 2000, XP, Server 2003 |
Drive
Utility Software |
- Includes four major functions - partition manager, boot
manager, disk editor and partition recovery
- Partition Manager - automatically or manually resize,
copy and move partitions without losing data, wizard-driven interface,
dual operating mode design, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3,
ReiserFs and Linux SWAP partition support, sector-by-sector support for
copying and moving partitions of other types, automatically optimize
hard disk space usage, change cluster size, automatically or manually,
hide or make visible partitions of any time, preview changes made in
partition layout before applying them to disk supports large disks over
180GB, plot partitions, merge partitions, explore partitions
- Boot Manager - OS selector allows for installation of
separate operating systems, supports up to 100 of any known operating
system on a single PC, install several versions of Windows on a single
partition, Windows Installation Wizard, install and boot operating
system from any partition of any hard disk, password protection, hide
operating systems and partitions, clone an OS installation as back-up
repartition system for a new OS installation, boot viruses protection
included, edit configuration files without booting operating system,
operating system update detection, detect and turn off boot managers
built into operating systems, support for: DOS, Windows 3.1 + DOS,
Windows 95, 95 OSR 2, 98, ME, NT 3.1, NT 3.5, NT 3.51, NT 4.0, 2000, XP,
2003 Server, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, SCO UNIX, UNIXWARE, OS/2, BeOS,
QNX, B-TRON, boot from additional hard drive, boot from CD/DVD,
automatic operation system detection
- Disk Editor - Edit hard disk and partitions, supports
IDE, SCSI, USB, IEEE 1394 hard disk drives, works from bootable media,
hexadecimal mode of hard disk partition contents viewing, additional
viewing modes for FAT, NTFS partition boot sectors, root and other FAT
folders, pending execution, multi-window operating mode, transition to
necessary disk sectors according to their absolute numbers, works with
information blocks of disk sectors, saves selected blocks to files an
reads information from files before inserting to disk sectors
- Partition Recovery - Supports FAT16, FAT32, NTFS,
NPFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, Linux Swap, automatic and manual
recovery mode selections, works from bootable CDs or diskettes, supports
disks over 180GB
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
Hard
drive utilities such as those from Acronis can save you days of time
in system migration, recovering lost data or just preparing ("wiping") your
system for "give away" or sale to another individual or organization.
Ease of Use -
@@@@
Acronis disk utilities are easy to use, however, for some of the utilities
we recommend a careful understanding of the function (especially the Disk
Editor) before you attempt to use the application.
 Works With -
YYYY1/2
Most of Acronis utilities are designed for the Windows environment only, however
some, like MigrateEasy operate in a number of operating system environments (see
the table above. for more information).
Support
-
ppp
Acronis offers a knowledge base and FAQ. If you need more
help, email is the only option.
Features - iiii
A very rich set of drive utilities.
Everything from permanent data destruction using national and other recognized
destruction standards to disk editing and migration. Lots of capability!
Overall Rating
- %%%%
Acronis drive utilities offer more
"experienced" users robust capabilities to work with their hard drives.
For the less knowledgeable (or willing to learn), the software still makes it
easy to permanently destroy Internet and deleted files or prepare a system for
re-use by permanent erasure of an entire hard drive or hard drive partition.
Powerful software at a moderate price.
Allume (recently purchased by Smith Micro)
Click here to buy Allume Systems software
Simple Start-Up -
¹¹¹¹
Allume's drive utilities are easy to install and set up for your use.
Cost - $$$$
Pricing
for Allume Systems software is detailed in the table below.
| Software |
Price |
O/S Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
FileKeeper Pro |
$29.99 |
Windows 2000, XP, Vista |
Drive Utility Software |
- Out-of-the-box settings protect commonly used data,
customizable
- No scheduling required
- Stores only the changes between file versions
- One-click recovery
- Access previous versions of files, recover accidental
deletions and undo mistakes
- Protection and recovery while disconnected from
external storage
- Protects files that are open and "in use" including
email
- Use one or more storage locations
- 128-bit encryption available
|
|
|
Spring Cleaning 9.0 |
$49.99 |
Macintosh OS X 10.4 or newer |
Drive Utility Software |
- Task scheduler
- Launch services rebuilder
- Permissions fixer
- Housekeeping scripts runner
- MacUninstaller
- Secure delete free space
- Duplicates finder
- QuickCompare
- MailCleaner
- Music Finder
- Image Finder
- SizeManager
- Disk image finder
- Font file finder
- Universal application finder
- Widget finder
- Rename
- Restore
- Choose
- System snapshot
- AccessMonitor
- Document finder
- Internet cache finder
- Storage
- Language file finder
|
|
|
MediaRECOVER |
$29.99 |
Windows XP, Vista
Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later |
Drive Utility Software |
- Recover over 300 file types
|
Camera Files - Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Kodak, Sony
Images - BMP, DNG, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF
Documents - DOC, HLP, MBX, MS Office, PDF, TXT
Audio & Video - AIFF, AVI, MIDI, MOV, MP3, WAV
Other Files - AI, DWG, EMF, PPS, WMF, FHX |
|
EMC Retrospect
Express HD |
$49.99 |
Windows 2000, XP, Vista |
Drive Utility Software |
- Protects music, photos, videos, email, games, tax
returns, schoolwork, computer settings, documents
- Wizard for startup
- Schedule backups
- Smart restores
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
Any
or all of the Allume drive utilities can aid you in cleaning up, optimizing or
using your system more efficiently.
Ease of Use -
@@@@
The
utilities are easy to install and use.
 Works
With -
YYYY
Allume makes utilities for both the Windows and Macintosh operating
environments.
Support -
ppp
Allume offers a FAQ and knowledge base. If you need more help, you must
use their online tech support forum and hope that their folks respond to your
questions quickly.
Features - iii1/2
Pretty basic utilities - but things you might
or should need to optimize your system.
Overall Rating
- %%%%
Basic utilities at a competitive price.
Alsoft
Simple Start-Up -
¹¹¹¹
Alsoft's disk utility is simple to install and set up for your use.
Cost - $$$$
DiskWarrior is
priced at $99.95.
| Software |
Price |
O/S Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
| DiskWarrior 4.1 |
$99.95, upgrade $49.95 |
Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later |
Drive utility software |
- Prevents and eliminates directory damage
- Uses directory data to rebuild directory structure
- Eliminates risk of losing access to files
- Scavenges directory to find all salvageable file and
folder data
- Eliminates unseen directory errors
- Recovers lost files and folders
- Optimizes directory for maximum performance
- Monitors drive hardware for potential failure
- Verification of replacement directory
- Comparison of original directory with replacement
directory
- Preview feature
- Repairs damaged book blocks
- Checks custom icon files for corruption
- Repairs problems with wrapper volume System files
- Permits interruptions of any kind including power
outages
- Verify Reads and Writes technology
- Supports bad block sparing software
- Rebuilds directories on disks as large as 2 terabytes
- Universal Binary
- Repairs invalid file permissions
- Includes suite of file and folder tests to find
problems before they cause problems
- Identifies corrupted Preference (.plist) files
- Repairs and rebuilds FileVaults
- Supports case-sensitive file names
- Repairs and rebuilds Attribute B-trees
- Repairs Access Control Lists
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
DiskWarrior is especially helpful in recovering
and monitoring your hard drive to avoid data loss!
Ease of Use -
@@@@
DiskWarrior is easy to use and understand.
Works With -
YYY
DiskWarrior is for the Macintosh environment only.
Support
-
pppp
Alsoft has an extensive online knowledge base. If you can't
find your answers there, they also offer email and telephone support (no "800"
number, you'll have to pay long distance charges where they apply) 9 AM to 5 PM,
Monday through Friday Central time.
Features - iiii
We especially like the capabilities contained
in DiskWarrior. If you've ever lost your hard drive, you know why!
Overall Rating
- %%%%
Alsoft makes a great utility for Macintosh
systems. DiskWarrior or an application like it should be on every
Macintosh system!
Ashampoo
Simple Start-Up -
¹¹¹¹
Dowloading and installing Ashampoo's software is simple and straight
forward.
Cost - $$$$1/2
Pricing for
Ashampoo disk software is detailed in the table below.
|
