Old Maxtor issue's

[ElectroBlaster]

What would cause a drive to suddenly "seek error rate" and things like the temperature being reported as 160c?

I have another maxtor underneath it and its fine... im getting problems with xp being trashed and corrupted files. there is plenty of cooling aswell

 

[semi-pro waster]

160c would mean that the internals or at least the silicon involved would be melting so your temperature sensor is broken I'd say.

What do you mean "suddenly 'seek error rate'"? Has this been reported by SMART as failing? I'd probably be taking that as a sign of impending death so backup what you can and if it is still in warranty think about RMA'ing it.