Most hard drives are capable of using DMA technology. Just know what by using DMA, your hard drive will transmit data faster. Unfortunately, Windows XP (and even Vista) has not enabled this technology for an unknown reason. Follow these steps to re-enable DMA on your hard drive.
 
1. Click "Start" and right-click "My Computer."
 
2. Choose "Properties" from the menu.
 
3. Click on the Hardware tab, then click "Device Manager.
 
4. Expand "Disk Controllers", right click "IDE Controller 1."
 
5. On the "Advanced" tab, choose "Use DMA if possible" if not selected.
 
6. Do the same for "IDE Controller 2", "IDE Controller 3" and so on.
 

 
Now, you can be confident that you are using the most current I/O (in/out) technology that your hard drive supports.

About the author:
Knows a lot about computers, especially Microsoft Windows.