Hi. Here's the story: I have a Samsung SP1604N 160 GB HD that doesn't seem healthy. In fact, it hangs my system from time to time. S.M.A.R.T. lets WinXP tell me this HD is at risk, when I go to the Computer Management window (Administrative Tools). When I used to use an ASUS A7M266 as my motherboard, there was an option called "Multi-sector transfers", that let me set a maximum number of sectors per transfer - the maximum numerical value was 32, and I had it at 16. My computer managed to remain stable with that imposed performance limit. However, I've recently changed mobos, and my ECS N2U400-A (nForce 2 Ultra 400 chipset) has a BIOS that doesn't have that particular option (that or I'm rather blind or can't tell where it is due to different naming). As a result, my system is unstable once again. I've updated my BIOS and installed the latest nForce drivers (version 4.21) on WinXP - that does nothing for me in that regard.
 
In short, can someone please let me know of a software that runs on Win2k/XP to limit multi-sector HDD transfers? I realize something this low-level shouldn't be taken care of by a software running on an OS, but I imagine it's the only possibility, unless someone can give me a hand in telling me of a Phoenix BIOS option that would help me the way I require.
 
Thanks a lot!