DRevitalize vs HDAT2
DRevitalize
drevitalize.comHDAT2
hdat2.comSide by side
| Figure | DRevitalize | HDAT2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Disk Diagnostic Software | 8.4 (#2) | 7.7 (#13) |
| Documentation | The maker publishes a long tutorial covering operation modes, repair procedures, SMART, ATA security, secure erase, formatting, USB bridges, and recovery workflow. | The download page provides the HDAT2 Cookbook, user manuals, a DOS USB creation guide and an FAQ. |
| Purpose | DRevitalize diagnoses and repairs physically damaged magnetic media, including hard drives and some floppy drives. | HDAT2 tests and diagnoses ATA, ATAPI, SATA, NVMe, SSD and SCSI/USB devices. |
Plans
DRevitalize
- DRevitalize 1.2 Light/DOS freewareFree
- DRevitalize Light/DOS 1.2Free
- Company/business use licensePriced on request
- Single-site use licensePriced on request
In their own words
DRevitalize
DRevitalize is Windows software for diagnosing and attempting to repair physical damage on magnetic media, including hard drives and some floppy drives. It works around damaged areas by generating sequences of high and low signals intended to repair bad sectors. The listed current version is 4.10 for Windows and UEFI, and public demo downloads are available for Windows, UEFI, and DOS. Modes include scan-only checks and scan-and-repair read or write tests. Other functions include SMART analysis, raw-data copying, secure erase, Format Unit, ATA security operations, and Device Configuration Overlay controls. The software is intended for minor surface damage, typically a few bad sectors, rather than hundreds or thousands. It can inspect and modify SSD parameters, but cannot truly repair a defective SSD sector; it may reallocate that sector. UEFI use requires a 64-bit system and recent BIOS. Windows support information says the product is designed for Windows 10, while version 4.0 requires at least Windows Vista and .NET Framework 4.6. License ordering is no longer available and the project is on hold.
HDAT2
HDAT2 is a drive-testing and diagnostic program for ATA, ATAPI, SATA, NVMe, SSD, and SCSI/USB devices. Its device-level tools test drives and can repair bad sectors on detected devices. File-system testing covers MBR/GPT, boot data, and directories on FAT12/16/32, exFAT, and NTFS. SMART functions are available for ATA/SATA, SCSI, and NVMe drives. Capacity controls include SET MAX and Device Configuration Overlay, with options to restore full capacity; supported SATA and NVMe devices can also be switched between 512e logical sectors and 4Kn. HDAT2 detects devices on AHCI and some RAID controllers, and USB devices through USB ASPI or BIOS when supported. The main program requires a real DOS system booted from USB, floppy disk, or CD/DVD. A Windows 32/64-bit demo is available, but it operates only at drive level, omits file-level functions, and aborts almost all commands while simulating conflicts. The freeware plan is free, for one or more machines, with redistribution without profit; it is provided as-is without warranty.