I have this weird issue where my IDE/ATAPI controller drivers keep reverting to PIO mode instead of staying in ultra DMA 6 mode. What can I do to stop this from happening?

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Hi,
Have you tried removing then reinstalling the drivers?

I would try to run chkdsk /r from Recovery Console on the drive...and continue to check Event Viewer for error messages referencing IDE-0. If such continue, I would assume that the drive may be going bad.

I would also run a disk utility to check the drive. These are available at the hard drive manufacturer's website. Follow instructions for using.

Also, check the drives in the BIOS, put the detection on automatic or set to DMA/UDMA following the instructions in the BIOS. Be sure to save settings on exit.
You can also try this:
Uninstall and reinstall the affected channel, "Primary IDE Channel" or "Secondary IDE Channel". Reboot the system and Windows will reinstall the driver for the channel.
1.. Open Device Manager.
2.. Double-click on IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
3.. Right-click on Primary IDE Channel or Secondary IDE Channel and select uninstall.
4.. Click on "Ok".
5.. Restart the system.
6.. Upon restart, Windows will reinstall the Primary or Secondary IDE channel.

Double Post

Yeah, I thought I had a nasty virus so I reformatted and reinstalled windows but I still had the problem so I installed proc explorer to see what was eating up the cpu and it showed to be hardware interrupts. I then uninstalled the driver in dev manager because it was in PIO mode and when I rebooted everything was fixed. I had my performance back. Problem is that I have to uninstall the driver at least once a day because it keeps reverting to PIO mode by itself. Can I delete the PIO driver so that it has no other driver to revert back to?

Yeah, I thought I had a nasty virus so I reformatted and reinstalled windows but I still had the problem so I installed proc explorer to see what was eating up the cpu and it showed to be hardware interrupts. I then uninstalled the driver in dev manager because it was in PIO mode and when I rebooted everything was fixed. I had my performance back. Problem is that I have to uninstall the driver at least once a day because it keeps reverting to PIO mode by itself. Can I delete the PIO driver so that it has no other driver to revert back to?

Did you try the first 3 of what I had mention; Especially #3

1. I would try to run chkdsk /r from Recovery Console on the drive...and continue to check Event Viewer for error messages referencing IDE-0. If such continue, I would assume that the drive may be going bad.

2. I would also run a disk utility to check the drive. These are available at the hard drive manufacturer's website. Follow instructions for using.

3. Also, check the drives in the BIOS, put the detection on automatic or set to DMA/UDMA following the instructions in the BIOS. Be sure to save settings on exit.

Yes, I checked event viewer and I'm getting these:
1. Device IDE\IDE port 0 did not respond within timeout period
2. The driver detected a controller error on \IDE\IDE port 0
3. An error was detected on device \harddisk 0\D during a paging operation
4. The driver has detected that \IDE\IDE port 0 has old or out-of-date firmware. Reduced performance may result.

I checked for firmware updates on both Wertern Digital and Toshiba websites and there are no firmware updates available. This drive is only 4 months old. It's a 500gb WD Scorpio on a Toshiba A105/S2081. As far as dskchk goes, I ran that and I also ran the WD Datalifeguard software but it reported no problems. ?????

Well the first problem is that is a WD drive. Make sure when you run chkdsk that you run chkdsk /r from the command line. Or you can also right click on the drive in my computer > properties > tools > check now. Then put a check in both the boxes to accomplish the same thing. Also reseat you IDE cable at both ends to make sure you have a firm connection. Other than that, your drive may be bad.

It emitting a noise that sounds very much like a clock tick. This was a brand new drive 4 months ago. WD really does suck. Would I be better off with a Samsung 1 TB drive? Or does Samsung suck too?

It emitting a noise that sounds very much like a clock tick. This was a brand new drive 4 months ago. WD really does suck. Would I be better off with a Samsung 1 TB drive? Or does Samsung suck too?

Sounds like the drive is going bad or is bad.
WD? Enough said!
Samsung Spinpoints are pretty good drives.
Maxtor/Seagate are much better, personally, I use these drives and have for about 10 years and never had a problem with any of them, as a matter of fact, 1 Maxtor in my system is 5 years old and still going strong. Only replaced them for larger capacity drives.
I tried a few WD's, didn't like them and they went defunct too fast.
This is MHO, but some people swear by WD.

Same here, every maxtor I ever had lasted years and years and I replaced them only because of the larger capacity drives. The drive I'm talking about here though is for my laptop. I need a good 1 TB SATA notebook drive for less than $100...any suggestions?

Don't think you'll find a 1Tb for under 100.
Try looking around at Newegg.com or Amazon.com
They have some Seagates and Samsung's, 500Gb for around $90.
Have you thought about returning the WD, since you said it's only 4 mos. old, should be under warranty.

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