hey magicsy, go to modify>Transform Tools>Scale Tool>Option box. see whether the options there have changed. if they have, then reset it, and it might work...

THX, why was keeping the near clip plane value too small a problem for you?
i thought it should be the other way around. that, if your near clip value is too large, then you zoom in on an object, and the nearest objects would start disappearing...
just curious....