Hi lrbtav:
Please bear in mind that this group is for help with performance and
maintenance issues with Windows XP, as the title implies.
Moreover, all you've said is that you're looking for "a tool to monitor
my system health, such as the status of my hard drive, among other
hardware components." That's pretty vague.
If you want a specific recommendation, find a more suitable newsgroup
and describe in detail what you are looking for and what attributes in
an application are important to you. If you have specific programs in
mind, ask about those specifically.
Personally, I do my research on the web and look for products that have
been fairly well reviewed by organizations and reviewers I know and trust.
Earl Grey