A disk drive and method are disclosed for using a mailbox file associated with a disk storage medium for performing a function characterized by contents of the mailbox file. In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a disk drive comprises a disk storage medium having a first range of disk drive host interface addressable locations accessible by a host computer operating system, at least one of the addressable locations being used to designate a mailbox file. The disk drive comprises a disk controller for responding to a command from the host computer operating system that references the mailbox file to perform a function characterized by contents of the mailbox file.