"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
news

Quite often, the drive can no longer read the boot sector, and
keeps
trying to recalibrate the head positioner.

S.M.A.R.T shows a large seek error count, though they still work. I
keep using them until the Reallocated Sector Count rises or heat slows
them down excessively.

HD Tune (free) is a good drive health test program, though it can't
report the status of USB drives.
http://www.hdtune.com/

This lacks the tests but can read S.M.A.R.T from a USB drive.
http://crystalmark.info/software/Cry...o/index-e.html

jsw