[WriteLog] Erratic CW - possible fix

[Dale Jackaman]

Some Windows setups are not setup properly for the hard disks and are 
stuck in PIO mode instead of DMA.  PIO mode is very slow and heavy on CPU 
and hardware interupts.  Every disk access seems to creates erratic CW. 
The usual cause is a lack of proper drivers for the motherboard chipset 
but every now and then it's just not detected and selected properly by the 
Windows plug and pray functionality. 

Try going to the device manager in the control panel and expand the IDE 
ATA ATAPI controllers. Right click the Primary IDE Channel, then 
Properties.  On the Advanced settings tab check check to see if says PIO.  
Repeat this for the Secondary if you have one.  Change any PIO setting you 
find to DMA or Ultra DMA. 

Also, don't mix older hard disks and/or CDROMS on the same controller. 
Some combinations can force a downgrade in the operating mode of these 
storage devices that can also cause erratic and slow operation. 

The above applies to all versions of Windows. 

Dale
VE7GL


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