Computer and Software Support


Change CD-ROM drive from PIO to DMA

To change the transfer mode of your CD drive follow these steps:

  1. Device Manager (This will open in a different window).
  2. In the right pane, expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
  3. Right click the channel where your CD drive is connected
  4. Click on Properties (Usually this is the Secondary IDE Channel)
  5. Click on the Advanced Settings tab
  6. On the Transfer Mode box for the CD drive, click DMA if available. (If you have two CD-ROM drives set both to DMA if available)

NOTE: Is the second CD-ROM device enabled in the system BIOS setup? If not, the DMA setting may not be available. In other words, if a CD-ROM device is connected to the IDE cable connector, does the BIOS setting indicate a device? Or, does it say OFF? If the device is OFF, set it to AUTO.