In theory having DMA enabled allows for better data transfer
rates to the recorder, which in turn should allow you to record at higher
speeds. In practice however, not all drives function correctly with DMA
enabled. The problems can include "Drive Not Ready" errors when
attempting to record, system locks up completely during recording, system
crashes, etc..
First, go to your Device Manager and click the plus sign
next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Pick "Primary IDE channel" or
"Secondary IDE channel" icon. Right-click, choose Properties, click
Advanced Settings tab (NOTE: The Intel App Accelerator makes the Advanced
Settings tab go away. Hopefully you've disabled it already) Use Transfer Mode
list box to change the mode for your IDE devices. If it's set to PIO, change it
to DMA. If it's set to DMA, try PIO.