Disk Warrior vs Techtool Pro

Aren't all iMac G5s come with OS X Tiger 10.4 pre-installed? Or maybe it's me, who have missed out that the first batch of iMac G5s came with 10.3??

There will be "a few school's of theories" regarding whether or not to get a Utility program, or that Disk Warrior is the better one or none at all...

I for one once thought about the same thing as you did, but I have "grown" to live without them and I have been using Mac OS X since the very first version...

For me I use a Shareware Cocktail to do my regular system maintanence like clearing caches, repairing permissions, also I do manually especially when installing new apps or updating OS or security patches; I also do the occasional boot up from disc to run Disk Utility or run fsck.

I think what's most important is to do your periodic back up, not only this is probably the safest bet, but also things like hard drives failure which is beyond repair... at the end of the day, your aim is to preserve your data right??

Cheers

GrnXnham...I have both..TT Pro has more diagnostic features ie..ability to check hardware that DiskWarrior does not

To me their most important function is the ability to rebuild your HHD's directory...both do it very well

You can't really go wrong with either of them...check their respective websites

http://www.micromat.com/

http://www.alsoft.com/index/html

As howwow says backing up your data is the best peace of mind

dave 🙂

GrnXnham...

My choice is DiskWarrior, however utilities they can get outdated rather quickly. In order to be safe as possible, you then need the most current utility available, when stuff hits the fan. Now from what I was told, DiskWarrior is less likely to be of a problem, but I am leary about that.

My overall take on this is get a backup plan going first. Hard Drive based backup is my first choice, over the easily misplaced CDs/DVDs, but maybe a storage wallet can be of some help there. Kind of a like a Clutter Reduction Act needs to be imposed.

...Ron

I'm fairly sure my G5 iMac came with 10.2.8 because I have purchased versions of both 10.3 and 10.4.

Anyway, Macworld had a good article on this topic http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/features/preventmacdisasters/index.php

And, Adam Christensen covered the subject well in his 11/25 podcast ( http://libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20051125.mp3)

Personally, I use Disk Warrior with good success but it hasn't been totally painless as keeping the most recent version has caused some minor problems.

I have also been pondering buying DW or TTP. I have AppleCare and wondered if Apple provides an updated version of TTP since the one provided doesn't play well with Tiger 10.4.3. Does anyone know if they do?

If they do they provide a "lite" version, which has significant limitations.

I have been using Disk Warrior. Invaluable.

DW does a great job, however it doesn't realy tell you how adn what exactly it does. It is a bit of a black box. W.r.t. TTP, I used Micromat's Drive 10 3 years ago...that software never worked for me once and was a complete ripoff...it totally destroyed my directory structure. So I personally stay way from Micromat.

Another suite to consider is Drive Genius from Prosoft.

Jurgen

How good is Drive Genius in comparison to TTP and DW, does it contain a suite of tools like TTP? Does DW do any type of cleanup or check up functions like TTP or is it strictly a directory rebuilding utility? I have searched around and can't find a recent review of DW, and the information gathered from the various web sites of the respective software companies naturally portray their particular product as the best utility to have for maintainence of your Mac. Are any of these utilities even necessary?

I've wondered about Drive Genius myself. I think it's somewhat new to the market but has received decent reviews. What I would really like to have is SpinRite, but, there is no Mac version (nor, will there be since it is written in a Windows type machine code).

The comparisons between the two seems to be the subject of many threads - mostly in the Tiger Discussion area.

My pick: the latest TechTool Pro 4 (4.1.1). It looks deceptively like a Swiss Army Knife approach, but it is much more then that. The more intensive processes in the program which are in the Performance tab, Maintenance and Optimization, do things that can really get your system in a squared-away state. This is especially true if you Optimize your entire Disk (not just the files). It is a lengthy process, but I find my system perceptively much faster after it is done. But before you get to the Performance tab, you really need to have it check your Directory Structures under the Tests/Volume tabs. And while there, have it check through the health of your Files with the 'Repair on' check box enabled. Finally make use of the ability to create an Emergency Volume (eDrive) from which you can regularly boot and perform these tasks without having to use an external drive or CD.

One thing to keep in mind is: Never use a outdated version of TechTool Pro! Use only the most up-to-date version. Many people have destroyed their data by using a version from a year or more ago (something Micromat warns users about regularly). And they then post a rant against Micromat, blaming the company for their own stupidity.

About DiskWarrior 3.0.3: I would never use a program written in April '03 to mess around with my System which has been through several revisions since DW 3.0.3 came out. I would be inviting a disaster of epic proportions IMHO.

Griff

Are any of these utilities even necessary?

For general use, no. Just as problem solvers, and even then you can always do it the hard way with an erase/install, unless things are really bad.

I do a lot of beta testing of very unstable software, and I've never owned either one. Only time I had to do an erase install was after a buggy beta plug-in ate the video on my old imac.

About DiskWarrior 3.0.3: I would never use a program
written in April '03 to mess around with my System
which has been through several revisions since DW
3.0.3 came out. I would be inviting a disaster of
epic proportions IMHO.

Version 3.0.3 is the latest update, updated for the latest processors including G5. I have never had a problem running DW. Quite efficient at resolving Directory issues.

Thanks for the information about TTP. I have been considering purchasing it (I used TTP in OS 9), however, I was wondering what benefits it would create for my computers. I believe I get a reduced price because of my earlier purchase?

1) If you don't already have one, buy an external FW drive instead of a disk utility, and use SuperDuper (or another good bootable cloning application) to back up your computer daily. Every few weeks, and after OS updates and major hardware installations, run DiskUtility WHILE BOOTED FROM YOUR OS DVD, to "repair disk" and 'repair permissions". Every few months make a complete bootable clone, wipe the internal drive, and clone back from the external, to reduce free space fragmentation.

2) If you already have a good external backup drive then I'd be heading for Diskwarrior first (it may do less than TTP, but it does it very well, and is actually usually updated much faster than TTP when a new OS update comes out).

3) Get TTP further down the track if you think you REALLY need more than this. You might also consider Drive Genius instead, as Jurgen suggests. I haven't tried it , but the reports are very promising. But there isn't really much that you can't solve with a good external backup drive and DW.

Cheers

Rod