TechTool Pro is a full-featured utility program containing options for testing and repair, maintenance (including disk defragmentation), and data recovery. All it takes is one click of the mouse to perform a comprehensive suite of tests on your computer's hardware and attached drives. TechTool Pro does it all. There is no need to purchase additional software to keep your computer performing at its best. In fact, it's so good that Apple includes a copy of its sibling, TechTool Deluxe, in its AppleCare Protection Plan.
Diagnostics and Repair Use the Check
What's New
Version 6.0.4 (update within the app, or login to your Micromat account to download online):
Improvement to Volume Rebuild/Repair routines.
Enhancements and fixes in the Surface Scan test.
Fixed an eDrive and Spotlight volume unmounting issue.
Added ability to Wipe Free Space on an active system volume in Wipe Data.
Significant improvements and updates to the Local Network tool for Bonjour enabled devices.
Improved support of Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) FileVault encrypted and RAID volumes in TechTool Protection.
Updated and fixed localization issues for French, Italian, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified).
Included additional machine identification models to Check Computer.
Updated Growl support.
Version 6.0.4 (update within the app, or login to your Micromat account to download online):
Improvement to Volume Rebuild/Repair routines.
Enhancements and fixes in the Surface Scan test.
Fixed an eDrive and Spotlight volume unmounting issue.
Added ability to Wipe Free Space on an active system volume in Wipe Data.
Significant improvements and updates to the Local Network tool for more...
Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later.
This is my first review on Macupdate because I really wanted to let everyone know what this app has done to my hard drive. In the coming days I will update this "review" as I'm hoping my opinions will change.
I ran a Volume optimization, and upon restarting found my hard drive is no longer accessible. I did the volume optimization through my edrive but cancelled an hour our so into it as I knew it would take too long - and needed to use my Mac. I'm on Lion.
To all intents my MacBook pro is now dead. And to say I'm a little pissed is a grand understatement.
I now can't mount my internal drive. I've tried everything. There is a forum topic on their website, "Startup volume will not mount", which explains my exact situation - hence the reason I know I'm not the only person to suffer with this problem.
Thankfully I have a time machine backup from a couple of weeks ago which has everything saved, so I'm not too concerned about that, but for now I can't even mount my internal drive to reinstall lion or reinstall from my backup!
I've sent them an email and now awaiting a response. I'll keep everyone updated. I have only a few regrets in my life. One of them is installing Tech Tool Pro.
Basic features are OK but the disk defrag function is very slow and does not like power saver features enabled on a Mac. Loosing one disk to it's crash is enough. I'm thankful for Time Machine and Disk Warrior.
6.04 is the most ANNOYING upgrade of TechTool pro ever.
I got it mainly for the Volume Rebuild feature on an external back-up drive when DiskWarrior went through a long period without updates. TechTool 6.04 go right through the Volume Rebuild process, attempt to replace the directory, mounts the drive in the middle of the directory replacement for which I get a Growl notification, tells me some other dastardly app has mounted the drive (the log tells me it TT Pro) and then aborts the process.
I then have to do a PHYSICAL reboot of the system so that TT Pro 6.04 will forget about the fact that the device was prematurely mounted by TT Pro 6.04.
I've tried turning off Growl, and a host of other measures ... but TT Pro still mounts the drive it is working on prematurely.
My housekeeping is fine, and DiskWarrior 4.4 worked a treat. TT Pro was the one that failed to rebuild the volume, TT Pro was the process that mounted the disk prematurely. TT Pro 6.04 is the puppy with the problems. As for the 'thousands with bated breath'... well, your mileage may differ if you are using a version of Mac OS prior to 10.7.2, or if you don't have the latest version of Growl installed ... but I wouldn't bank on it.
Doh! Looks like 6.0.3 is incompatible with Growl 1.3.x:
Dyld Error Message:
Library not loaded: @executable_path/../Frameworks/Growl.framework/Versions/A/Growl
Referenced from: /Applications/Utilities/TechTool Pro 6.app/Contents/MacOS/TechTool Pro 6
Reason: image not found
Hmm, turned out to be a failed upgrade of the Growl framework by the Growl Version Detective app. Deleting the ".bak" from the Growl.framework in the app wrapper fixed it.
I got this as part of the bundle but the supplied serial number isn't working. Micromat hasn't answered my email. Now reading the reviews, perhaps I'm lucky? Still this was a big part of the bundle and not having it, or it not doing what it's supposed to do is a big let-down.
I agree. The main items I wanted from the bundle were a professional ( as described by Micromat on their product site ) disk tool, and the Total Finder utility. Perhaps ironically, I was using Tech Tool Pro for the first time purely to clean up the disk free space after Total Finder went quietly mad and over 2 days filled my disk and rendered my system unusable.. Removing Total Finder silently added back the 60GB of HDD space it had consumed and restored performance.
So TTP trashed my hard drive, and Total Finder filled it with junk. Both products I have had to remove from my system. A complete waste of money, even at the bundle price.
Don't use TTP ( if your license ever works ) until there is a statement from Micromat on what went wrong, and at the very least, an apology and upgrade for those with the current defective version.
Trashed my hard drive. Had previously upgraded my HDD x2 in my aging macbook pro, as well as 2 major OS updates, so I thought it was time for a cleanup. With lion on an old Core 2 Duo macbook, it is running rather slow I has also previously accidentally completely filled the drive while shuffling data around and rebuilding new servers, so I really wanted to optimize the drive. Checked, file defragmented, and file optimized without problem. However, it took many nights to try and "volume optimize" my hard drive, after which the map couldn't pass a sanity check or boot, despite reporting "success." Lost 1 week's worth of data (saved by automated time machine backups) and a day putting it all back together. Never again--- I'll just let the OS manage the drive itself and leave the "optimizing" to the windows crowd.
PS: Other than the obviously broken HDD tools, the other tools aren't useful.
Bought this as part of the bundle. Burned a DVD successfully and booted from it. Ran Volume optimization on the internal 7200RPM 500GB disk. It took more than 12 hours ( Mac Mini 2010, 8GB RAM, 2.66GHz ) to finish. The system is now unbootable. This is the first system defrag tool I have used in more than 25 years that has accomplished this. Now having to reinstall Lion and recover from Time Capsule. Avoid this product. You are two clicks away from destroying your system.
Volume optimization completed. There were no errors noted. The disk had 60GB free prior to optimization. I booted from a recovery disk ( not TTP ) and ran Apples disk analysis, which reported volume errors. Hmm, volume errors after running volume optimization. So I booted off the TTP DVD again, and ran their volume analysis. Same thing, volume errors now found. The TTP volume repair though was useless - it was unable to read the disk to repair the errors. So in this case, all I could do was reformat the disk, and do a full Time Capsule recovery. My system was fine before running TTP. All patches up to date. No disk errors. System Check in TTP ran successfully. Volume Optimization on a non boot drive worked fine. The same on the boot drive, silently trashed the volume. This product is not safe, and should not have been released without further testing.
After booting, the "circle with the bar through it" arrived. I booted from the recovery partition on the same disk ( by pressing Option at boot ). This was fine. showing that indeed the disk was fine, but the boot volume I had run TTP optimization on was trashed. Seriously, I have recovered my system now, no thanks at all to TTP, whose own Volume repair tool was unable to fix the problems volume optimization had created. I post this only to warn others. Click, click, click ... system trashed.
Exact same thing happened to me! It's not like I'm a newbie. Optimisation trashed the system. Couldn't boot up with DVD made on another machine. Apple disk utility couldn't fix. Managed to run tt603 from another machine with disk as target firewire. Volume rebuild fixed it. No errors previously until the system became unbootable, Any product that can do this is dangerous. Very disappointed to say the least - and shocked.
I've tried versions 6.x and they all mess a disk which has "permissions disabled", making impossible to move any file or folder and to change permissions or anything!
I could only fix the problem with DiskWarrior 4.3.
Note that version 5.0.7 was working correctly.
Does any one know where to download this? I have a valid serial purchased from here but I can not find a download link that doesn't lead me to some other page with no download link on the developers website.
Can any one suggest an alternative application for disk recovery that when purchased can actually be downloaded from the developer for use?
This is rather annoying. I have a TechTool Pro 5 license from a MacUpdate bundle a while ago, but this includes access to a 5.0.4 version of the TechTool Pro DVD, the installer from which will not work, presumably because I'm on Snow Leopard. So, I have no way to install the program and update to a new Snow Leopard compatible version from within, and of course it's not possible to do something as simple as download the installer from the Micromat website. What a bunch of crap. I understand that they don't provide free updates to the DVD, which is fine, but all I want is the little installer app, which I think I should be able to get without having to register on the Micromat website and contacting technical support.
While I know the software is not officially Snow Leopard supported as of right now it still runs quite well with the exception of the TechTool Protection preference pane inside the System Preferences, once clicked it will cause the System Preferences to crash. Just thought I'd mention that.
I'm running 10.5.8 on a MacBook (late 2006), and the TechTool Protection preference pane launches and crashes within seconds, crashing System Preferences and requiring its relaunch. So, doesn't seem to be unique to Snow Leopard. Did it work for you under Leopard?
Dug around a little, found info on trashing the preference pane (in my case it was in my ~/Library/PreferencePanes directory). Doing that, it now launches and System Preferences doesn't crash. Wondering if this will help with Snow Leopard. To try this, be sure to quit TechTool Pro app first, then delete the preference pane. When you relaunch TechTool Pro app, it will ask if you want to install the Protection pref pane.
Trashing the pref file stopped the crashing on Snow Leopard although it will ask for my system password each time I enter the TechTool Preference Pane but nonetheless it works, thanks a lot.
After starting the TechTool system preferences they colapse - each time!
(MacBook Pro, Intel Core Duo, 10.5.7, 2 GB)
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000
I bought 5.0.4 last May, as a part of the respective MacBundle. I only use the bootable DVD and right now I'm puzzled: where's the link to download an updated DVD image? Thank you in advance for your help, TT Pro veterans.
As with other disk utilities, updated DVD images are not free updates to download (due to their large size and bandwidth costs). You can contact Micromat about ordering a new DVD. I think it's around $10.
There are ways of letting the customer create their own DVD. Take a look at iDefrag from Coriolis Systems. They released a free (for purchasers of iDefrag) DVD-making utility (Coliolis CD Maker) that will create a bootable DVD with iDefrag on it. That way when they release an update to iDefrag, the customer can immediately make a new bootable DVD.
The way Micromat does it, and charges $10 for 5.0.4 to 5.0.5 update is a racket at best.
AFAIK Coriolis lets the owner of a Coriolis DVD make a new DVD with the updated Coriolis app on it; the DVD itself doesn't get updated.
If one has an older Coriolis Tiger DVD then you can only make another Tiger DVD with a newer app on it; to boot the latest Macs with the newer Coriolis Leopard DVD would require an upgrade purchase.
With the coming of USB-3.0 and ever cheaper external drives, all the disc talk may well become irrelevant.
has _anyone_ managed to start up from the TechTool Pro DVD? I followed the instructions to the letter, but the "bootable" DVD hangs at the language selection screen.
Yes I was able to create a bootable DVD that worked. You have to use the correct download link from the bundle info, not the 'download' link from MU main page.
Working fine for me. So you boot from the disc and when you get to the language screen the app becomes non-responsive? Very strange... contact Micromat support, they'll help you. micromat.com
I'm using Mac mini (Mid 2007), and it usually took 10-20 minutes for a Leopard based Boot DVD to boot up; Tiger based boot DVD usually only took ~5 minutes
I am in the same boat. I have burned the dmg to a dvd, just like the instructions say and I most certainly do not have a bootable dvd. I have a copy of the dmg on a dvd.
I feel like I know a little about how things work but following the instructions on the bundle receipt does not yield a bootable dvd.
Can you provide clearer instructions? And yes I held down the C key when I rebooted.
Please login or create a new MacUpdate Member account to use this feature
Watch Lists are available to MacUpdate Desktop Members Upgrade Now
Download and auto-install
using MacUpdate Desktop. Save
time moving folders and cleaning-up.
TechTool Pro is a full-featured utility program containing options for testing and repair, maintenance (including disk defragmentation), and data recovery. All it takes is one click of the mouse to perform a comprehensive suite of tests on your computer's hardware and attached drives. TechTool Pro does it all. There is no need to purchase additional software to keep your computer performing at its best. In fact, it's so good that Apple includes a copy of its sibling, TechTool Deluxe, in its AppleCare Protection Plan.
Diagnostics and Repair Use the Check Computer feature to perform a complete diagnostics check of the computer and the Macintosh formatted hard drives with one click of the mouse. This includes a SMART test of the computer's built-in hard drive to check for impending drive failure, a test of the computer's available RAM, a check of the disk directories, and much more. If problems are found, advice is provided on how to proceed to repair the problem. Use Check Computer regularly as a part of a preventive maintenance program.
Volume Rebuild In addition to testing the disk directories of hard drives, TechTool Pro can also perform a complete rebuild of them. This optimizes these critical data structures and, on a corrupted drive, repair any problems. Use volume rebuild to keep your hard drives operating at their peak performance.
Optimization TechTool Pro performs both file and volume optimization. File optimization consolidates each individual file into a contiguous area of the hard drive. Volume optimization consolidates the free space on a hard drive. Optimizing enhances the overall performance of your drives and simplifies the file storage layout.
Data Recovery TechTool Pro includes several methods of data recovery. Use them to recover data from corrupted drives that don't mount on the desktop and save the data to another location. Use the Trash History feature to track the location of deleted files and increase the chance of their recovery in the case of an accidental deletion.
Volume Cloning Volume Cloning provides the ability to create an exact clone or disk image clone of a selected volume. Both of these formats can be utilized for backing up and restoring data and, in some cases, systems and applications. Cloning volumes can be helpful if you are upgrading from a smaller size hard drive to a larger hard drive.
Network Monitor the configuration of your local area network (LAN) by revealing the active services and ports on each selected machine or Bonjour supported device on your LAN. This information is important for strengthening security on a specific machine, Bonjour supported device or your overall LAN, and is also helpful in tracking what devices have been in use in the past that are no longer available since the last time monitoring was performed.
eDrive One of the unique features of TechTool Pro is the eDrive. This is a bootable Mac OS X partition containing TechTool Pro and a small copy of your system that you can use when performing regular maintenance or in the case of an emergency. It is created on one of your hard drives without the need to reformat it.
Protection TechTool Pro includes the option to install the TechTool Protection system preference. This is where you configure automatic functions that operate in the background. In particular, you can configure Protection to track deleted files, monitor the free space on your hard drives, save backups of critical directory data to help with recovery in the event of drive corruption, and to monitor the SMART routines of your hard drives. If problems are found, Protection provides an onscreen alert and can even be configured to send an email alert.
Dscox reviewed on 19 May 2012
I ran a Volume optimization, and upon restarting found my hard drive is no longer accessible. I did the volume optimization through my edrive but cancelled an hour our so into it as I knew it would take too long - and needed to use my Mac. I'm on Lion.
To all intents my MacBook pro is now dead. And to say I'm a little pissed is a grand understatement.
I now can't mount my internal drive. I've tried everything. There is a forum topic on their website, "Startup volume will not mount", which explains my exact situation - hence the reason I know I'm not the only person to suffer with this problem.
Thankfully I have a time machine backup from a couple of weeks ago which has everything saved, so I'm not too concerned about that, but for now I can't even mount my internal drive to reinstall lion or reinstall from my backup!
I've sent them an email and now awaiting a response. I'll keep everyone updated. I have only a few regrets in my life. One of them is installing Tech Tool Pro.
+3
Morfund reviewed on 26 Apr 2012
-5
Jmsm reviewed on 11 Mar 2012
+1
+5
Elevatorium reviewed on 16 Feb 2012
Every time I use the Rebuild Volume Structure option, I get a prohibitory sign when booting back into 10.7.3.
It boots fine, it should not show the sign. :/
DiskWarrior 4.0.4 ftw. xoxo
+940
+152
+1
+8
Frank-O'Connor reviewed on 02 Feb 2012
6.04 is the most ANNOYING upgrade of TechTool pro ever.
I got it mainly for the Volume Rebuild feature on an external back-up drive when DiskWarrior went through a long period without updates. TechTool 6.04 go right through the Volume Rebuild process, attempt to replace the directory, mounts the drive in the middle of the directory replacement for which I get a Growl notification, tells me some other dastardly app has mounted the drive (the log tells me it TT Pro) and then aborts the process.
I then have to do a PHYSICAL reboot of the system so that TT Pro 6.04 will forget about the fact that the device was prematurely mounted by TT Pro 6.04.
I've tried turning off Growl, and a host of other measures ... but TT Pro still mounts the drive it is working on prematurely.
Ahh well, back to Diskwarrior.
+258
+7
I have upgraded with no trouble at all
Harry
+8
+1
-1443
Dyld Error Message:
Library not loaded: @executable_path/../Frameworks/Growl.framework/Versions/A/Growl
Referenced from: /Applications/Utilities/TechTool Pro 6.app/Contents/MacOS/TechTool Pro 6
Reason: image not found
+1
-1443
+940
-1443
+940
+3
+16
+8
So TTP trashed my hard drive, and Total Finder filled it with junk. Both products I have had to remove from my system. A complete waste of money, even at the bundle price.
Don't use TTP ( if your license ever works ) until there is a statement from Micromat on what went wrong, and at the very least, an apology and upgrade for those with the current defective version.
+3
+3
sjk6574 reviewed on 16 Dec 2011
PS: Other than the obviously broken HDD tools, the other tools aren't useful.
+5
+8
Tokyo-Mac reviewed on 13 Dec 2011
+940
+2
+8
+1
+8
+2
+1
+79
I could only fix the problem with DiskWarrior 4.3.
Note that version 5.0.7 was working correctly.
+79
+2
+2
Can any one suggest an alternative application for disk recovery that when purchased can actually be downloaded from the developer for use?
+4
+721
-1
+2
+6
+2
+2
+2
+1
+6
+8
(MacBook Pro, Intel Core Duo, 10.5.7, 2 GB)
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000
+2
+11
-2
+940
+351
The way Micromat does it, and charges $10 for 5.0.4 to 5.0.5 update is a racket at best.
+29
If one has an older Coriolis Tiger DVD then you can only make another Tiger DVD with a newer app on it; to boot the latest Macs with the newer Coriolis Leopard DVD would require an upgrade purchase.
With the coming of USB-3.0 and ever cheaper external drives, all the disc talk may well become irrelevant.
+93
+1
+1
+2
+16
-1
+940
-1
Help!
+1
Insert it > Restart holding the C key for 3 min. > Wait 10-20 min.
Now you can use TT to check/debug main hard drive.
+9
+102
I feel like I know a little about how things work but following the instructions on the bundle receipt does not yield a bootable dvd.
Can you provide clearer instructions? And yes I held down the C key when I rebooted.
what's going on??
redCasval rated on 25 May 2012
+15
Monzterdk rated on 20 May 2012
mac-urs rated on 11 May 2012
+5
Mistertoad44 rated on 06 May 2012
Pepman rated on 24 Apr 2012
+4
Josue64 rated on 24 Apr 2012
James Zammikiel rated on 21 Apr 2012
Tomioka rated on 21 Apr 2012
Pravin Sanghvi rated on 21 Apr 2012
docwi rated on 20 Apr 2012