How to Turn Direct Memory Access (DMA) on or off

You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.

Direct memory access (DMA) is usually turned on by default for devices such as hard disks and CD or DVD drives that support DMA. However, you might need to turn on DMA manually if the device was improperly installed or if a system error occurred.

1. Click to open Device Manager.‌  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
3. Under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, for each item that has the word Channel as part of its label, right-click the item, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Advanced Settings tab. Under Device Properties, select or clear the Enable DMA check box, and then click OK.