Sometimes things happen for a reason. The day I received Drive 10, my hard drive's desktop in System 9 got very corrupted. When I tried to boot up from a repair CD, just as the desktop was about to complete loading, I received a System Error message. I had unintentionally created a monster that ordinarily cannot be repaired without tremendous difficulty.

The problem here is that when one boots up from a System 9 repair CD, the drive that you want to repair must be mounted. If you have ever tried to repair a drive that can't mount without crashing the system, you have a good idea of what I'm saying here.

But, OS X is different: the drive only has to be accessible, not mounted. When you start up off the Drive 10 CD, you get a window in the middle of your screen with just Drive 10 running. This is very similar to how it used to be with a repair program on a floppy disk: since there wasn't room for the Finder AND the program, you renamed the repair program as "Finder" and when you loaded the floppy disk, the repair program loaded directly. When you quit the repair program, the computer restarted. The Drive 10 CD acts no different.

The screen shot below shows Drive 10 running off my HD, not the CD (the view is 60% of full size).

There are 15 tests that Drive 10 can run on your HD (if you are running the program off your HD and not off the CD, nothing can be repaired, only examined--this is what the red text is saying in the middle-left of the shot above). As in Tech Tool Pro, Drive 10 also examines various hardware issues such as RAM.

If you already have TechTool Pro, you have seen much of what Drive 10 has to offer, except the graphics are much prettier in Drive 10.

As the tests run, the various icons for each test run from the right side to the left side of the screen (just as in TechTool Pro) and as each one lands under the magnifying lens in the middle of the screen, the test is run. Each takes just a few moments. Testing all options except the "Surface Scan" and "Volume Structure" took 53 seconds on my computer. As far as the Surface Scan test goes, most HDs self-verify their own sectors automatically. However, it's the Volume Structure that is probably the most important of all these tests. It checks the directory on your Hard Drive and rebuilds it, not repairs it, if it finds errors.

This directory is the same directory that OS 9 uses, so if there is a problem on one OS, it will show up and/or affect the other OS. It was this aspect that allowed me to finally repair the directory on my HD--more on this later.

Once the tests are complete, if you passed all tests, you are presented with a report with not much information therein. Below is a sample result of my computer (the image is full size so it can be read, but chopped off to fit in the size of this column). If you don't pass a particular test, the only difference is that instead of a green "Passed," you get a red "Failed."

If you do not have directory problems, it can take about 10 minutes for Drive 10 to verify your drive. If there are problems, it takes just a moment to tell you about the failure.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, I had problems. There was an option to click on to repair the drive, and then you sit back and wait. Here, you must have faith because except for a blue sideways barbershop pole, there is scant other evidence that anything is being done. Perhaps because there is no "thermometer" indication that anything is taking place, the temptation is to reboot as it seems the computer must be frozen--but the barbershop poll quivers indicating life. During this process, Drive 10 is trying to analyze and repair the Volume Header, Extents, File, Catalog File, Attributes, File, Startup File, and Allocation File.

Finally, you are presented with a screen showing 15 different aspects about the drive's original directory data on the left side of the screen and the data of the newly repaired directory data (similar to the Volume Structure repair screen in TechTool Pro). If there is a change between the two and Drive 10 deems the difference favorable, the data on the right side is green. If Drive 10 deems the difference is unusual, the data is in red. Macromedia claims that unusual is not necessarily bad, but in reality, it probably is. There is never a screen that pops up and states something to the effect: "So-and-so is broken, do you want to fix this?"

Have your pen ready if you want to keep this information as regrettably, there is no way to save this datum. All you can do with this screen is to either [Cancel] or [Replace]. Then you are presented with a cruel joke of a message:

So, here you are after some 40 minutes of waiting to recover your hard drive and you are presented this message with the only way to get any data off the hard drive is to reboot from an OS 9 repair disk as that is the only way to get your hard drive to mount to obtain access to your data that you are about to lose some (or all) of. Keep in mind that I cannot mount my hard drive so any datum that I may have in jeopardy is gone no matter what I do.

I would like to suggest to Micromat that they make some changes nonetheless. For example, I would present this message after the Volume Structure test has shown problems, BUT before it takes all the time to analyze the data. It could perhaps present a message such as:

It's a good idea to run the test again because when I repeated the test, my Volume Structure failed a 2nd time. Following the 2nd repair, the process seemed complete as the 3rd pass found no problems. I did, however, have to reinstall OS 9.2.1 as my System (OS 9) itself was fully trashed at some point during this process. However, I did manage to otherwise repair my directory.

Drive 10 ships in a way-too-big box, containing the CD, a registration card (with your serial number--watch out as this is the only place you will find the serial number), and a rather pathetic 28 page Manual. The manual is handy as far as something to flip though while waiting for a Surface Scan run or Volumn Structure run. However, you will not find any analysis of what the needs and demands of a repair program for OS X, nor the differences between what the repair demand differences are between OS 9 and OS X in this manual.

Interestingly enough, all the aspects of OS 9 are still important for OS X if you need to run any program in Classic mode. Otherwise, the directory is the same in both Operating Systems, and Drive 10 obviously takes care of that. But, Drive 10 does not repair Bundle bits that are on that should be off or vise versa. Likewise, it does not repair bad modification dates. As such, it's ability to repair the Classic aspects of OS X is obviously limited.

Micromat claims that Drive 10 is the "first and final disk utility for OS X." While I will not argue that in spirit, I will state that this should not be your only repair program--especially if you run any programs in Classic mode.

In short, Drive 10, like OS X, is a work in progress. Ironically, one of Drive 10s strongest features is to help one with a destroyed desktop directory in OS 9. While I do accept it can do totally adequate repair of the OS X Volume Structure, the fact that it can do nothing for aspects exclusive to OS 9 means that it has limited appeal for anyone using Classic programs. In addition, its poor manual and dreadful ability to save reports from Volume Structure repair means that Drive 10 has its work cut out for itself for version 1.5 or 2.0.

I have to be honest and say that it is actually painful for me to not give my full unqualified support for a program that is the only program on the planet that could have helped me back up last minute data on my hard drive. On the other hand, had it not have helped me in the manner in which it did, I might have given Drive 10 a lower rating (but not by much).