DRevitalize vs smartmontools
DRevitalize
drevitalize.comsmartmontools
smartmontools.orgSide by side
| Figure | DRevitalize | smartmontools |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Disk Diagnostic Software | 8.4 (#2) | 8.1 (#7) |
| License | The single-site license permits use on one computer at a time, while a company/business license permits unlimited compatible company computers and employees. | Smartmontools is licensed under the GNU GPL Version 2. |
| Purpose | DRevitalize diagnoses and repairs physically damaged magnetic media, including hard drives and some floppy drives. | Smartmontools provides utilities to control and monitor storage systems using S.M.A.R.T. |
| Security | The maker says installers and executables are checked with several anti-spyware and antivirus engines. | The project uses free code signing from SignPath.io and a free certificate from the SignPath Foundation. |
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.
smartmontools
smartmontools is a free package containing smartctl and smartd for controlling and monitoring storage devices through SMART. It supports ATA/SATA, SCSI/SAS, and NVMe disks, as well as SCSI/SAS tape devices. smartctl can report SMART health status, show capabilities such as error logging and offline surface scanning, display vendor-specific attributes, start device self-tests, and read their logs. A failing health status can mean a device has failed or predicts failure within 24 hours. smartd periodically monitors SMART status, error and self-test logs, and attribute changes; it can schedule tests and report errors and attribute changes to syslog. It also supports warning emails and executable commands. The project says it should run on modern Linux, BSD variants, macOS, Solaris, Windows, Cygwin, OS/2, eComStation, and QNX systems, and can run from various Live CDs and DVDs. The package uses the GNU GPL Version 2 license and was originally derived from the Linux smartsuite package. Its capabilities focus on SMART health reporting, testing, and ongoing monitoring.