How to Activate DMA for an IDE Hard Drive

DMA stands for "Direct Memory Addressing." This is a process where a section of memory inside your computer can access a device without going through the Central Processing Unit (CPU). Under most circumstances all devices attached to your computer (inside and out) have to request time from the CPU to communicate with one another. DMA allows devices to skip the CPU request which frees the CPU up to do other processing, effectively speeding up the computer.

Things You'll Need

• BIOS that supports DMA for IDE drives

Instructions

1. Restart the computer. As it boots up, press the key to enter the BIOS setup screen. This key can be different on different computers, depending on your BIOS. In most cases, it is the "del" key or "F10." Watch the screen while the computer is starting up and press the indicated key to "Enter setup."

2. Find the BIOS setup screen for hard drives. This screen will be labeled "hard drives," "drive setup" or something similar, depending on your BIOS type. Sometimes there will be a screen for "DMA settings." You can use the arrow keys to navigate through the different BIOS setup screens.

3. Turn the DMA setting to "On." Depending on your BIOS setup, you may need to press the "Enter" key or the "+" key. Read the tips on the screen to determine which key needs to be pressed.

4. Save and Exit the BIOS settings. In most BIOS screens, pressing the "F10" key will save your settings and exit. Once you exit, the computer will restart and your hard drive will start using DMA.

Tips & Warnings

• If you cannot locate any DMA settings, you BIOS does not support DMA-IDE.

• Do not change other settings in BIOS unless you know what they will do. Some BIOS settings will make your computer unable to start.