Thanks Hybrid

The problem w/ using a USB to IDE adapter (which I have) is that many of the manufacturer disk checking programs included on the UBCD will not check USB for compatible drives to check - only IDE banks.

Also, my first inclination is to use the manufacturer disk diagnostic tools to test a HDD. But what are the advantages of using the manufacturer's drive diagnostics tools over something like, say, Microsoft Scandisk? That I could use a USB adapter with and hook up to a laptop without having to build a dedicated machine.

As far as having to turn the computer on/off constantly, that shouldn't be a problem since it wouldn't be used all that frequently.