As Macs continue to gain market share, there is an increased likelihood that you will have to support them if you are a tech. And even if you aren’t a tech, it’s good to know which tools are the best to use when it comes time to repair your own. I have put together a list of what are, in my opinion, the ten best repair tools for troubleshooting, diagnosing, and repairing a Mac. Many of them are free or offer a free trial.
OSx Sierra
Tools for Maintenance at stewmac.com, your #1 source for luthier tools and supplies, guitar parts, and instrument hardware. Pro Maintenance Tools supports Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer / Symphony and Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac. Minimize downtime Perform common troubleshooting tasks at the press of a button so you can get back to work faster. Analyze crashes.
Disk Warrior Trial
Free Mac Disk Repair Software
Free Mac Disk Repair Software
TechTool Protogo
TechTool Protogo is a Mac repair program suite which contains three of Micromat’s best Mac repair tools; TechTool Pro 8, TechTool Pro Classic, and DiskStudio. Protogo creates a bootable Mac repair toolbox with these tools as well as any of your own tools on a portable hard drive or flash drive. You can then boot from this drive, bypassing the OS, and run diagnostics on a computer to determine problems. Protogo also allows you to repair and recover data from problematic hard drives as well as defragment, optimize, and securely delete data.
Cost: $129.99
Memtest OS X
Memtest OS X is a memory testing program for Mac OS X. It is a command line utility so it can be ran in OS X or in Single-User Mode if your Mac will not boot. It is great for testing intermittent system problems when you are having trouble determining if it is a memory problem. If you prefer memtest with a GUI front-end, then be sure to check out Rember. Rember will run in OS X but will not work in Single-User Mode so Memtest OS X is the better option.
Cost: $1.39
Mac Disk Repair – DiskWarrior 4
Disk Repair for Macs – DiskWarrior utilizes a unique disk repair method for Macs
DiskWarrior is arguably one of the best hard drive repair programs for the Mac. It works differently than other data repair programs. Instead of trying to rebuild the damaged data itself, DiskWarrior builds replacement data based off of the original data. It then verifies the new data structure based on the original to make sure it is error free. You can also use DiskWarrior as a preventative maintenance utility for hard disks. When run, it rebuilds your directory eliminating any damage that you may not be aware of. It also optimizes the directory for better performance.
Cost: $99.95
Maintenance Tools For Computer 2017
If it is more serious and your Mac’s hard drive has crashed, I have provided an extensive data recovery guide with a list of Hard Drive Recovery Tools in my article How to Recover Data from a Crashed Hard Drive.
OnyX
Onyx is a maintenance, optimization, and personalization utility for Mac OS X. It allows you to run hard drive diagnostics, run system maintenance tasks, delete caches, and configure tons of OS X hidden features. Even if you aren’t using it as a repair utility, it is a great application to help keep your Mac running in top shape.
Cost: Free!
Mac Data Rescue
Data Rescue is a data recovery program that focuses purely on recovering data from corrupt drives instead of hard drive repair. It scans the corrupt drive analyzing all of its contents and allows you to choose which data you would like to recover. It even scans for deleted files. Data Rescue II restores the data to a separate drive leaving the original data intact. It comes with an emergency boot CD that you can use to recover data when the computer will not boot and it also works on drives that won’t mount.
Cost: $99.00
AppCleaner
AppCleaner may not be classified as a repair tool but it can be used as one. When you are having trouble with an application in OS X, you can simply remove it by dragging it to the Trash. However, this still leaves behind the applications preferences, caches, and other files that could still cause the same problem after you reinstall it. AppCleaner will remove all of these files making sure that the app is completely gone before you attempt a reinstall.
Cost: Free!
Drive Genius
Drive Genius is a disk utility application for Macs. Its main features include defragmenting, running benchtests, directory repair, integrity checks, surface scans, repartitioning, cloning, shredding data, and more. This is actually the same program used to defrag Macs at the Genius Bar in Apple Stores. Drive Genius also comes on a bootable DVD so you can run it even when a Mac will not boot.
Cost: $99.00
Mac Backup – Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner is a simple yet very effective backup utility for the Mac. Like most other backup utilities, it can be scheduled to backup your Mac on a regular basis. The best part, however, is its ability to completely clone a hard drive with it still being bootable. This tool comes in very handy when you are replacing hard drives, setting up multiple Macs, or recovering from a system crash. Carbon Copy Cloner is donation-ware so you can download it for free without any restrictions. You can also check out SuperDuper which has more features but costs $27.95. However, if you just need a simple backup and cloning utility, Carbon Copy Cloner does a great job.
Cost: Free! (donation-ware)
Apple Mac Disk Repair – AppleJack
AppleJack is a troubleshooting utility for Mac OS X. It runs under Single-User Mode so it can be used even when OS X will not boot. AppleJack will repair disks, repair permissions, cleanup cache files, validate preference files, and remove swap files. You can select these tasks individually or have AppleJack run all of them and even reboot when finished. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article, AppleJack is not yet compatible with Leopard but a new version is in the works. Be sure to check their page frequently for an update because this is an invaluable tool.
Cost: Free! (open-source)
Hardware Monitor
Hardware Monitor is a utility that allows you to view data from the hardware sensors in a Mac. It currently has support for temperature readings, battery data, voltage, current, fan speed, power and load, ambient light, as well as user-defined artificial sensors. It’s a great utility to use when simply trying to find out if your hardware is malfunctioning.
Cost: € 7.00 (can also be purchased with U.S. Dollars)
OSX disk repair -Leopard
This is kind of a nice segway into handy hardware tools and toolkits. Click on the following link if you want to see some great ideas on what I recommend for your Mac or PC Repair Toolkit.
As you may know, I believe your should support Macs in your Computer IT Consultant Business. I state my case here in my article on Why You Should Support Macs With Your IT Business.
Well if you were counting, that is 4 totally free Mac OSX disk repair utilities, and one so cheap it may as well be free! The best Mac repair disk software may well be a paid one depending on your exact needs, and I’ve shown you my pick for the best of those too.
Excellent Mac disk repair software is provided above, for you to consider and try if you like. What Mac OS X repair tools do you like? Is there another Mac Disk Repair utility you’d suggest? Please leave a comment to help others, or if the above tools have helped you. And as for hardware, click this link if you want to repair hard drive-Mac.
Download Tools For Mac
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SSD drives can improve the performance of Mac Machine and offer a lightning speed loading time. The high-performance players in SSDs are the operating speed and resistance to impact and shock. Even though SSDs are bit expensive, the investment on SSD can pay back you in terms of speed. Solid State Drives can read, write and load your OS X at lightning speed compared to your traditional spinning hard disk. But when you consider maintenance and span of life, the traditional hard drive does not need any additional maintenance and has more lifespan. With this current technology, SSDs are demanding more care and bit less lifespan while offering best speed performance.
Here we are listing the best SSD Tools for Mac to Maintain SSD Drive in a proper way to extend the life.
Chameleon SSD Optimizer
Key features: SSD Optimizer | Reduce I/O Writing cycles | Read SATA System Profile | Download from Website (free)
Chameleon is an optimization tool for Solid State Drive on Mac OS X system. It can enable TRIM on generic branded disks and increase durability by reducing I|O writing cycles, set hibernate mode and save space disabling sleep image. Chameleon is able to read SATA system profiler info and allows you to easily check trim status, disk speed or properties and also supporting S.M.A.R.t. status. Chameleon SSD Optimizer can monitor your SSD’s performance and make sure it will continue working properly by enabling the trimming function.
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
Key features: Measure Disk Performance | Large block Data Wrote to measure performance | Download from iTunes (free)
Buckmark Maintenance Tool For Sale
Disk Speed Test is an easy SSD Test tool to use with your Mac that can use to measure and certify your disk quickly. Starting the test with a simple click is easy. Disk Speed Test will write test data your disk using large blocks of data and then display the result. Disk Speed Test will continue to test writes and reads from your disk so you can evaluate both performance and readability over time.
Related: 5 Built-in Mac Security Software you Never Knew in OS X
DriveDx
Key features: SSD Health Diagnostic | Monitor SSD Wearout | Check I/O Errors | Download from iTunes
DriveDx is an advanced drive health diagnostic and monitoring utility. DriveDx does not only monitor the drive’s built-in S.M.A.R.T. status but also analyzes the changes of all drive health indicators that are closely related to SSD or HDD failures like SSD wear out / endurance, reallocated bad sectors, offline bad sectors, pending sectors, I/O errors and more. DriveDx alerts user immediately if anything goes wrong. The application provides access to all sufficient drive diagnostic data. This app supports modern SSDs and HDDs and offers real-time SSD/HDD health status monitoring. It can display SSD lifetime left indicator, save drive’s health report to file and monitor drive temperature, free drive space etc.
Trim Enabler
Key features: Live Health Monitor | Performance Optimizer | Time Machine Optimizer | Temperature Monitor | Download from Website ($9.99)
With Trim Enabler, you can enable trim to any Solid State Drive. Trim is a must-have feature for most SSDs. It not only increases data writing speeds, but it enhances the lifetime of the SSD itself. Trim Enabler can monitor your disks and the detailed S.M.A.R.T monitor will provide performance and health-relevant statistics and reports about your disks, both Hard and Solid State Drives. The inbuilt benchmark feature measure SSD or hard drive speeds and file system performance with the super-easy-to-use Benchmark feature.
Xbench
Xbench was developed by Spiny Software to provide a comprehensive benchmarking solution for Mac OS X. Xbench is useful not only for comparing the relative speeds of two different Macintoshes but also for optimizing performance on a single machine. Xbench is accompanied by a website that allows graphical side-by-side comparison of any out of thousands of submitted benchmarks.
Website: Xbench
Conclusion
There are a couple of tools available in the software market and Apple store to measure the performance of your SSD and monitor its life. Most of these tools are capable of enabling Trim function for your laptop. Trim function is known as an essential feature as part of SSD maintenance. Whenever you delete a file on your SSD, the data still stays on the drive in segments called blocks.
These blocks are not deleted until you need to use them again to write new data. Due to technical limitations in the NAND Flash design, only whole blocks can be deleted in SSD. This means, when you need to write new data, the SSD must perform time-consuming cleaning and maintenance of these blocks before your data were written. With Trim feature your blocks can be cleaned instantly when you delete the data, leading to much fewer operations during the writing process which gives you better speeds and minimizes the wear on the drive.
Related: 7 Dos and Don’ts of SSD to Maximize Performance and Increase Life
Eventually, the SSD technology will improve and offer you more reliable SSDs with less maintenance and reach up to the same life of traditional Hard Disk lifespan without any additional tools or maintain software. You have to depend on at least one software tool to keep your SSD until technology reaches that point.