Software and Computer Systems Company, LLC

Scannerz Page Header
Version 1.9.9.99B


Now Compatible with macOS 10.12, Sierra



What is Scannerz for Mac OS X?
Scannerz
for Mac OS X is a set of tools designed to help you identify and solve hardware and software problems on your system. The package consists of Scannerz, Performance Probe 2, FSE or FSE-Lite, and Phoenix. We also have a basic package named Scannerz Lite which is a simplified version of Scannerz and will be described later.


Scannerz
, the primary tool in the package, can evaluate internal and external hard drives and SSDs, the system bus, the system RAM, as well as all drive interconnections. With Scannerz, you can do the following:
 









Aside from detecting existing problems with a system, using the product once a month on a system that appears to be in good working order may very well identify problems that are just beginning to emerge.


Click HERE to see a tutorial on Scannerz basic operation.   Click HERE to learn more about Scannerz advanced testing capabilities. To see some screenshots of Scannerz in use, click on the camera icon below.
 



Link to Scannerz
            Screenshots page



Other Products in this Package:


The other products in the Scannerz package are Performance Probe 2, FSE or FSE-Lite, and Phoenix. Each of these may be purchased as stand alone packages, but they are all included in the standard Scannerz packages (not Scannerz Lite).


Performance Probe 2
can help isolate problematic applications and identify excessive drive and network use. Many times when problems occur, they aren't related to hardware at all but they have symptoms which act like drive or system problems. This is why this application is included in the package. Performance Probe 2 continually monitors the system and displays basic system resource consumption in a small window. If the system starts to show signs of problems, the user can click on a button which will allow the user to monitor memory and CPU consumption, system loading, and graphically depict network and drive use. Click HERE to learn more about Performance Probe 2.


FSE or FSE-Lite can identify the sources of excessive drive use and monitor drive activity. FSE is configurable, whereas FSE-Lite is not. Aside from identifying which applications are "hitting" the drive, both can log drive activity when problematic applications, such as malware or adware are installing themselves or making modifications to a system. Click HERE to learn more about FSE and FSE-Lite.


Phoenix is a tool for creating emergency boot volumes from an existing system, attempting file recovery of damaged files from a drive, and can perform basic cloning operations. The emergency boot volume created by Phoenix, which we call a Phoenix Boot Volume, can be used to boot the system for testing, re-install the operating system, and help try to recover data from a failed or failing drive in the event the disk has problems or bad files on it. It's basic cloning capabilities may be used to try and copy data from a damaged drive to a new drive, as well as perform full volume clones from one drive to another on perfectly good drives of SSDs. Click HERE to learn more about Phoenix.



Available Scannerz Packages:


Scannerz variants come in the following three packages:
 


The Scannerz packages that include FSE or FSE-Lite, Performance Probe 2, and Phoenix, are referred to as the fully featured versions of the product, whereas Scannerz Lite is a less sophisticated subset of the fully featured version. Performance Probe 2, Phoenix, and FSE can be purchased as standalone products and more detail on them may be obtained by visiting the web page associated with each product. Simply go to the menu bar at the top and click on the link associated with each product in the menu.
 



Scannerz Lite
Scannerz Lite is a simplified version of Scannerz. It does not include Performance Probe, FSE/FSE-Lite, or Phoenix. Scannerz Lite is intended to be used by someone that simply wants to evaluate their drive and system to see if there are problems, and if so, take it in for servicing.


The following table illustrates the differences between Scannerz and Scannerz Lite, as well as how they compare to other products on the market. A brief write up underneath the table spells out the differences.



Scannerz vs.
          Scannerz Lite


Both Scannerz and Scannerz Lite can detect not only errors, but timing irregularities. Irregularities often occur when a drive or a subsystem component is in the process of developing problems. Scannerz and Scannerz Lite are the only commercially available tools on the market with this type of detection capability.
 
The fully featured release of Scannerz performs drive profiling, which can help the user clearly identify and head off problems related to a drive before they become serious by monitoring the historical performance of the drive and generating reports at the end of each test to indicate the current status of the drive. It also has three test modes named  Normal Mode, Diagnostics Mode, and Cursory Mode. Typically, you click on a few buttons to set up a test in Normal Mode, and if Scannerz finds problems or possible developing problems, it quickly evaluates them using Diagnostics Mode. A Diagnostics Mode test is fully configurable allowing the user automatically re-evaluate and thoroughly analyze problems. Both Diagnostics and Cursory mode tests can be manually configured by the user to run customized tests and perform advanced troubleshooting if needed.
 
Scannerz Lite, on the other hand, is a fairly simple and straightforward tool. It does a test over an entire drive or volume, and when complete it simply informs the user what the status is. There is no option to perform diagnostics or limited scans over suspected problematic regions, there is no logging window, and there is none of the drive profiling and analysis available with the fully featured version of Scannerz. Scannerz Lite provides a quick, easy, and low cost solution for someone that simply wants to ensure their system and drive are operating properly.



System Requirements Mac Universal Binary
            Icon Scannerz and Scannerz-Lite can be run on normally configured systems using Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion), 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks), 10.10 (Yosemite),  10.11 (El Capitan), and 10.12 (Sierra)  using supported 32 or 64 bit Intel processors. Supported drive interfaces include SATA, IDE, FireWire, PCIe, Thunderbolt, and USB 2.0 (or greater).  Both Scannerz and Scannerz-Lite are fully capable of handling Core Storage components, including  full volume encryption using File Vault  2 where supported by the OS. Additionally, products in the Scannerz family can handle multi-drive virtual volumes using Core Storage or Apple RAID on a component basis, and provides general support for most implementations of hardware RAID, and limited support for third party software RAID implementations.
 
Scannerz and Scannerz-Lite will not support any of the following types of devices:
 

  1. USB 1.0 or 1.1 devices, because the devices are so slow.
  2. Network drives, because they're too susceptible to network and connection problems
  3. Drives connected via Xsan or SAN, because so few of them are in use on normal systems.
  4. Optical drives of any type, because optical media itself tends to be the problem, not the drive.
  5. Very old hard drives using MFM and many SCSI interfaces, because they're rarely used anymore.

 
None of these devices should stop Scannerz or Scannerz Lite from operating properly, we've simply decided not to support them.



Purchasing Scannerz
To purchase one of the  Scannerz packages, click on the Buy Scannerz Now button below.
 
Prices:


   $21.95 For Scannerz Lite


   $39.95 For Scannerz with FSE-Lite, Performance Probe, and Phoenix


   $49.95 For a Scannerz with FSE, Performance Probe,  and Phoenix





Buy Scannerz Now















Mac Universal Binary Icon

Scannerz, Scannerz Lite, FSE, FSE-Lite, Performance Probe 2, Phoenix, SpotOff, and Spot-O-Meter are Mac OS X universal binaries and support both 32 and 64 bit Intel based systems using Mac OS X versions 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion), 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks), 10.10 (Yosemite),  10.11 (El Capitan), and 10.12 (Sierra). Supported Intel based systems include all variants of the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini.