Should a Mac computer be available, we are able to provide support for formatting the drive as FAT32 under that OS. Another option is to ask on our Community Forums for community assistance in finding or using a FAT32 formatting application.
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.
Macs running OS 10.5 and higher -- Leopard to Yosemite -- include the Disk Utility program that allows users to check and repair disks and drives and to format or erase drives. Optimize your Mac's storage using Disk Utility software. Computers The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with Windows and Mac. Among MindNode’s other features are the ability to upload images to your map from your Mac, an outline view that displays your map in a more conventional hierarchy, and plenty of formatting. Disk Utility, a free application included with the Mac OS, is a multipurpose, easy-to-use tool for working with hard drives, SSDs, and disk images. Among other things, Disk Utility can erase, format, repair, and partition hard drives and SSDs, as well as create RAID arrays. I’ve had drivers for Mac on Windows Systems and NTFS drivers for Windows on my Mac and all work well. You can get the software to try before you buy too. If its a one off like copying from a friends Windows to your Mac or vice versa then the trial may be the cheapest and easiest way to go. Format USB or external hard drive for Mac using third-party USB format tool on a Windows PC If you need a simpler format tool to format USB or external hard drive to FAT32 for making them work on Mac, you can apply a third-party format tool to format them on Windows PC.
OSx Sierra
Disk Warrior Trial
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
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.
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Disk Utility, a free application included with the Mac operating system, is a multipurpose, easy-to-use tool for working with hard drives, SSDs, and disk images. Among other things, Disk Utility can erase, format, repair, and partition hard drives and SSDs, as well as create RAID arrays.
This guide is for the version of Disk Utility found in OS X 10.10 Yosemite and earlier. Disk Utility underwent some changes in the version included with OS X El Capitan and the new macOS version of the operating system. If you need to format a drive using OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) or later, check out Format a Mac's Drive Using Disk Utility (OS X El Capitan or later)
Getting to Know Disk Utility in OS X Yosemite and Earlier
Disk Utility works with disks and volumes. The term 'disk' refers to the drive itself. A volume is a formatted section of a disk. Each disk has a minimum of one volume. You can use Disk Utility to create a single volume or multiple volumes on a disk.
It's important to understand the relationship between a disk and its volumes. You can erase a volume without affecting the rest of the disk, but if you erase the disk, then you erase every volume that it contains.
Itool For Mac
Disk Utility has three main sections: a toolbar that spans the top of the Disk Utility workspace; a vertical pane on the left that displays disks and volumes; and a work area on the right, where you can perform tasks on a selected disk or volume. Disk Utility is located in Applications > Utilities. Launch it.
If you plan to use Disk Utility for system maintenance purposes as well as for working with hard drives, add it to the Dock. Right-click the Disk Utility icon in the Dock and select Keep in Dock from the pop-up menu.
Erasing a Non-Startup Volume
Erasing a volume is an easy way to free up drive space. Many multimedia applications, such as Adobe Photoshop, need a large amount of contiguous disk space to work. Erasing a volume is a faster way of creating that space than using third-party defragmenting tools. Because this process erases all the data on a volume, many multimedia-savvy individuals create small volumes to hold a project's worth of data and then erase the volume before starting the next project.
The
Erasing or Formatting a Mac's Startup Drive Using Disk Utility
Disk Utility can't directly erase or format a startup disk, because Disk Utility and all of the system functions it uses are located on that disk. If Disk Utility tried to erase the startup disk, it would at some point erase itself, which could present a problem.
To get around this, use Disk Utility from a source other than the startup disk. One option is your OS X Install DVD if you have one, which includes Disk Utility. Macs without optical drives use the Recovery volume.
Better Formatting Tool For Mac
- Insert the OS X Install DVD in your Mac's CD/DVD reader.
- Restart the Mac by selecting the Restart option in the Apple menu. When the display goes blank, press and hold the c key on the keyboard.
- Booting from the DVD can take time. After you see the grey screen with the Apple logo in the middle, release the c key.
- Select Use English for the main language. when this option appears, and then click the arrow button.
- Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
- When Disk Utility launches, the drive from the disks and volumes listed at the left side of the Disk Utility window.
- Click the Erase tab. The selected drive's name and current format display in the right side of the Disk Utility workspace.
- Click Erase. Disk Utility unmounts the drive from the desktop, erases it, and then remounts it on the desktop.
For Macs that do not have an optical drive, you can boot from the Recovery HD to run Disk Utility.
You can then use the steps in the Erase a Non-Startup Volume section.
Better Reformatting Tool For Mac
- Quit Disk Utility by selecting Quit Disk Utility from the Disk Utility menu item. This takes you back to the Install OS X window.
- Quit the OS X Installer by selecting Quit OS X Installer from the Mac OS X Installer menu item.
- Set the startup disk by clicking the Startup Disk button.
- Select the disk you want to be the startup disk and then click the Restart button.