Weekly Troubleshooting Utilities Update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This past week there were only updates to two utilities: a popular OS tweaking and maintenance tool, and a file recovery tool.

Maintenance

In maintenance utility updates this week, MacPilot was updated to include a number of new features and tweaks to system and appliation options, including those for the Ping menu and sidebar in iTunes, a swoosh animation for Spaces, and various system and OS appearance options. While the program has tweaking and cosmetic features, it also contains a number of maintenance options for OS X. A full license will be $19.95 after the 15-day trial.

In addition to MacPilot, MacPilot Lite was also updated. This $5 version of MacPilot includes common tweaks to the OS in addition to maintenance routines, and has been updated so users can reopen the main window from the Window menu.

Filesystem

The only other troubleshooting utility updated this week was Disk Drill, which is a free file recovery program for OS X. Disk Drill is being developed as a full-featured recovery tool for HFS and FAT partitions, but while it is in development it is available for free. The latest version is a significant update with an entirely new "Deep Scan" algorithm, and adds support for a number of new file signautres, including Pages documents and QuickTime movies. The tool now uses S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics to help monitor hard-drive health, and options to back media up to a DMG image for safekeeping during recovery.

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