Also - boot a live Linux CD and then from there do hdparam again and compare results, If they differ vastly at least you know it is something in your running system which is the culprit. If they are roughly the same then it is likely the drive gone bad. Though check the man page for hdparam to see if disk fragmentation will affect the results it gives. -- “Don't eat anything you've ever seen advertised on TV” - Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"