My netbook was having huge audio lag and just abnormally slow processing. After doing some searching on the internet, I found out that I needed to uninstall/reinstall the Primary IDE Channel found under the IDE controller section in the Device Manager. I would then set the Transfer Mode to DMA if available and everything would be great. For a period of time, I would see that "Ultra DMA Mode 5" was the current transfer mode, but every so often, it'd revert back to "PIO Mode", which is when it's really laggy.
What can I do to prevent the Primary IDE Channel to revert from Ultra DMA Mode to PIO Mode? Also, my netbook has BSODed a few times when it is in PIO Mode, without any real explanation.
I have a Samsung N120. Specs are as follows: http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/office/mobile-computing/netbook/NP-N120-KA01CA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=spec&fullspec=F. Only difference is that I have upgraded to 2.0 GB of DDR2 RAM.
EDIT: For all who are looking for an answer to this problem, click the link in Kythos's answer and look at number 6 (Re-enable DMA using the Registry Editor). This always works for me now. If on reboot, you seem to only have a black screen after XP is loading, just wait… it is still loading and will show signs of life after 2-3 minutes.
Best Answer
A full explanation of the issue can be read here you can download a jscript at the top of the page that makes reverting out of pio mode easy, but there is some underlying concern for the current status of your hard drive. If the laptop still has warranty I would make use of it as soon as possible. Make sure you backup your data.