ExpertTech - I had tried the Nvidia Pata drivers in the past and disliked how it operated so I switched back to the MS drivers... I might give it another shot to see if it makes a difference for me.

jbv - Thank you for trying that. I'm surprised that your results were good, but happy that you don't suffer with the same problem I have.

I wonder if it might have to do with manufacterer location or date the drive was built now... wouldn't be unheard of that someone somewhere ran out of widget a and switched to widget b that does the same thing but operates differently on some level.

Ok so I'm going to go make sure I have all the latest drivers again and try the Nvidia Pata driver vs the MS default driver. Just noticed CompUSA has the Mad Dog rebrand of the drive on sale again... Might try another one, see if I can find a different manufacter date/location and see results...