I had to Format C: :( Can you recommend a diagnostics/benchmark program?
 

I kept getting disk controller errors -- finally the machine would not even boot -- then opened up the box... then noticed I had corrupted system files... I was about to buy a new machine -- figured it was worth a try to format the drive as long as there were corrupted files -- figured the problem was not my machine... If this was all due to a nasty virus, wow it was a bad one because it made my drive sound like fucking shit... it was making all kinds of horrible noises. Anyway... can anyone recommend a benchmark/diagnostics type program so I can test out the machine?

there's an awesome hardware-based diagnostics system... it's kindof expensive, i'll see if i can find it. basically if you're looking for a true hardware diag. systems, you'll need something like that. i think it's called techbench 2000 or something. anyways, look for something like that, if i remember it i'll let you know.

SiSoft Sandra should do the trick.