Drive Genius

How long can I use Drive Genius free version?

I switched to the subscription, and this year I went to renew it and it was OVER FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS ANNUALLY ($AUD, but still) I get that “Pro” means “I charge others for my work” but there are still inbetween Prosumers that know what we are doing and don’t profit from using these utilities. Think I’ll stick to TechTool Pro.

Terrible app. I bought it for around $70 before they moved to subscription based format and now they basically wanting to charge me for it all over again YEARLY (no quality, ethical business does this with their legacy customers). P.S. Not only is the program visually hideous (the graphics and functionality are from like 1992), but it isn't user friendly AT ALL and the support is not friendly either. Waste of money. You're better off with any of the other cheaper, nicer, more helpful apps out there. P.S.S. I've only ever left one other negative internet review for anything in my entire life. This program was such a waste (not to mention the bait-and switch!) that I felt I needed to warn people against it. I'd give it a negative 1 if it were possible.

I am now getting the notices that I need to update this app, though it is still the same version as I already have. I think I am going to stop using this utility after reading many of the comments below. I'm currently running version 6.2.0 and now I am supposed to pay $79.00 for more of version 6.2.0? I've never heard of the such and I ain't going for it.

It freezes up during the Consistency Check. Leaving you to hard-boot your Mac.

Without full APFS Support there is No need for Version 6.

According to ProSoft Engineering, as of today: APFS support in v6 remains the same as v5. It can clone APFS volumes. Otherwise, all it can do is provide the same repair as Apple's Disk Utility. - - I should point out that I have yet to have any problems show up with my APFS formatted SSD. But for those concerned, the *only* utility that is capable of testing and repairing APFS volume structures is TechTool Pro as of v11.

I only really use this software when I buy a new Hard Drive. It's handy to confirm the drive doesn't have any problems. There is no way I'm going to pay $80 EVERY YEAR for just this simple task. Especially if it turns out DG isn't compatible with Catalina anyway. I don't care if that's the fault of Apple or DG. If it doesn't work, who cares who's to blame?

With my whole family I have a Pro, an iMac and two MacBook Pros. I'm supposed to pay for FOUR licenses? EVERY YEAR? Also I agree with Harvey-Kabaker. Since I upgraded to Catalina, on the iMac, it crashes daily, and when it does it always reboots THREE TIMES before it's stable. I was going to upgrade DG hoping it was just a compatibility problem with my old software. I'm glad I read all these reviews first. I've NEVER seen software this universally hated. You would think the developers would at least try to fix the problem. Now I just want to find a De-Installer so I can buy other software instead.

The upgrade paths are too expensive for my pocketbook maybe someone with deep pockets will pay.

Bought this very expensive Drive Genius app for a a couple of years ago, and only used it very few times since then. Now I need to use it, I get to know that I have to pay yet another hefty amount to upgrade and use in Catalina OS Definitely do not recommend it. Its a waste of money

I used to own and use "Drive Genius," but I can't say I ever liked it and I didn't like the pretensions of having "Genius" in the name. Even the interface seemed overly slick with all those moving parts. TechTool Pro always seemed to me to be better. I can't see why anyone would use "Drive Pulse" (or TechTool's equivalent real-time drive monitor). Totally superfluous. And why did DG feel the need to tack on a "me too" malware scan? There are tons of those out there already. I suppose it has a real-time component, but no Mac user should need that anyway. Beyond that, DG is just a collection of so-so utilities. Can it be true that it only works with hard drives? Seriously? Finally, I'm hoping someone with the appropriate technical background can answer this question: Do you really want to be "secure erasing" files or free space on solid state drives? If secure erasing SSD means overwriting it with random patterns over and over, as is typically done with hard drives, doesn't that just increase wear on the SSD and shorten its useful lifetime? Thanks for any replies. -SB

USELESS WITH AN SSD AND WITH APFS. This used to be a decent utility (not great, only decent), though DiskWarrior was MUCH better and TechTool Pro was fairly good. However, ALL disk utilities are now useless because the cannot do a volume rebuild on an SSD (volume rebuild was the one operation that could really fix a screwed up drive), so THEY ONLY WORK ON HDDs. Also, I’m not aware of any disk utilities that work fully with drives formatted with Apple File System (APFS), and most do not yet work on Catalina. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS DOG.

The Drive Pulse monitoring task used to be optional in V5 and previous releases. With V6, it always runs with no means to quit or prevent loading. The app does not follow standard conventions such as System Preferences or User login selection. Note: Launch Control and similar can fix this, but not for casual users. V6 User Interface is confusing and ugly. The Support page doesn't even list (as I write this) V6 - only up to V5. Suggests sloppiness for a premium priced application. Not fond of subscription model, infrequent updates, nor no refund policy either. Regret the V6 upgrade and suggest avoiding it.

I just went to their web site to see why my v 5.3.1 says I'm 'up to date', and found they want $59 EVERY YEAR (that's right - they went to a subscription ripoff model) for me to upgrade! DO NOT DO IT! I refuse to give in to ANY ripoff software subscription!!! NEVER!!!

BTW, I see in the upper right hand corner that MacUpdate says, "This app is compatible with your macOS."

I just learned it doesn't work with Catalina. Is Drive Genius responsible for the many crashes I have experienced nearly every time I use the computer since I installed Catalina? I'm always using Firefox, usually with Flash enabled, and usually with a second monitor. I've tried running without Flash and without the second monitor, still crashing and trying to find out if Firefox is responsible. Also tried running Chrome instead of Firefox but no verdict yet. Will look up Firefox reviews in Mac Update. Thanks.

Do not buy this software as it is not running on MAC with Catalina. They refused to refund the money even they stated: "Unfortunately, Drive Genius is not compatible with Catalina. More information will become available in the future as our developers continue to work on compatibility. We do have a newsletter available that you may sign up for on our website to be notified once news becomes available concerning Catalina."

Got rid of it! Developer is non-responsive. App not completely friendly with Catalina and SSDs. They can't seem to figure it out. They complain of Apple's lack of transparency regarding Catalina. Maybe the developers of Drive Genius have been singled out but it is amazing that so many alternatives work so much better ie. Onyx, Tech Tool etc.

It was initially good. Well nigh useless for me now, I'm afraid. As is DataRescue, etc. If they ever learn to do timely updates they may see me back, but I increasingly doubt it. Hey, not much point really on a Mac anyway!