DiskWarrior

What: Disk repair utility

By: Alsoft, Inc.

Cost: $79.99

Download: www.alsoft.com

DiskWarrior can repair damaged disks and recover data feared gone for good. Instead of simply repairing damage to the disk and possibly writing over usable data, it searches the drive for all salvageable data and then rebuilds the directory structure with only the usable data to help ensure maximum data recovery.

If you install DiskWarrior before you have problems, it monitors your drive to alert you to potential failure. It can also optimize your directory for maximum performance.

The figure shows DiskWarrior's main directory rebuilding interface.

Why I like it: DiskWarrior can make recovering your data as painless as possible and sometimes even keep the loss from happening in the first place. You may never have a disk crash, but when you do, this is the product you need.