Regular readers of this space will know I am a relatively new user of Apple hardware on a personal basis. I love my iBook and find the Apple OS X operating system to be very easy to use.
That's not to say that Apples are trouble-free. They are just more elegant.
So when I asked around about the best utilities for the Apple, I kept hearing about DiskWarrior from Alsoft (www.alsoft.com), which everyone kept telling me was the best disk repair utility out there for the Mac.
Alsoft, as early Mac users will remember, is the creator of DiskExpress, the first disk optimizer for the Mac.
There are other disk utilities out there, but I decided to take a close look at DiskWarrior. Its approach is radical and ideal: DiskWarrior uses a great idea to recover missing or damaged data. What it does is build a replacement directory to hold and use data found in the damaged one. While it is at it, it automatically optimizes the directory to speed up performance.
Once you insert the disk, the program builds the replacement directory, then painstakingly compares that to the original and delivers a report. Then you are given a chance to preview the changes and given a chance to examine the damaged folders to be sure of what you may lose.
For a relative novice, I did appreciate the interface, too. All I had to do was select the disk and click a button. A small menu told me all I needed to know, including level of disk fragmentation.
So what if you don't have a problem? What value is this product? Among its cool features is access to a technology built in to hard drives called SMART. Each hard drive is "phoning home" with its operating tolerances and how it is performing. However, if you have no software installed to receive those signals, it doesn't do much good.
With DiskWarrior installed, the disks are monitored, and if a failure is imminent a warning is issued to the user so they can back up their data.
Also the utility can be run routinely on machines that are working fine as preventative maintenance.
DiskWarrior will rebuild the directories (leaving the data intact) and speed up how the disks operate.
The utility runs on a Mac with a G3 processor or better with 128 megs of RAM or more.
The downsides? Price is one: the utility costs $75, which is a lot of money if one is coming from the Windows world. However, if your disk is hosed, it's a small sum to get back in business and save your data.
The other is the PDF manual. I long for the old days when actual books came with products. (Then again, this product is so easy to use you probably don't need one.)
The company's Web site needs a little work (the most recent posted and answered question is from 2001), but overall I am impressed with the product.
As new versions of the Apple OS are released, you need to get a new version of the CD as well; upgrades are $13.
You can get all the info you need at www.alsoft.com, where you also will see info on the other products from the company. It's also available at many Mac specialty stores and at J&R Music World.
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James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and a computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com.