You reminded me of a couple of points.

Windows reports: HITACHI-DK23EA-30

Dell support doesn't have that listed in the Drive section of the Support Forum so it through me...

From 'googleing' there is a known issue/concern with head unload time on the drive... which might be seen as additional slowing from the drives.

I have found some drivers out of the Soviet union that might work ... but I am not sure that is so smart :-)

You do not need to install any drivers for your hard drive as Windows already contains the necessary drivers.

In order to correctly identify the make and model of your hard drive, you should go into device manager and expand disk drives. You will see the ID string for your hard drive which you can either post on here or google in order to determine the make and model of hard drive.

I do not have an 'advanced settings' tab on my Primary IDE controller.

The Controller is reporting back as an IBM82801DB.

Primary Controller only has 'General' 'Driver' 'Details' 'Resources'
and on the main field my only options are: 'Troubleshoot' 'Ok' 'Cancel'.

Same for the IBM 82801 DB Entry in the Device Manager.

I suppose I am using the wrong term when I say 'drivers' since XP does include an IDE driver... but normally, as you suggest, there are additional options for Hard Drives such as DMA or UDMA ... and I am not seeing them.

Have you reinstall your operating system?
Have you also checked your system for viruses, Trojans and spyware to account for your system slowdown?

If you have reinstalled your operating system did you also install the Intel chipset driver? I have to ask seeing that you are missing the advanced setting tab. I have linked the driver for you below.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R50830&SystemID=INS_PNT_CEL_1100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=1134&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=1&formatcnt=1&fileid=60098

Let me repeat again, you would do NOT need any third-party drivers for your hard drive.
If you are looking for a firmware update for that drive then I suggest you look at the Hitachi download website.

It is possible that the reason for your system slowdown is because your hard drive has slipped into PIO mode. In order to check this, have a look in device manager> ide controllers> primary ide controller> properties> advanced settings. If your hard drive is functioning correctly the current transfer mode should read UDMA 5. If it reads PIO then post back.

Well Norton, SpyBot and AdAware say my system is clean.

However I do seem to be missing the drivers you pointed me to.
They are version 4.20.1006 and mine is reporting 2.3.0.2160

I'll install them and let you know how it goes...

Thanks.

hmm, they only time I have known that the advanced tab wasn't showing up was when the Intel accelerator patch was installed.

Ummm ...

The Intel Accelerator Patch is installed ... it is reporting UDMA 5 .. and I alter the performance on AC to 'Maximum Performance'.

Sorry I didn't mention it. I had no idea that it tied into those settings.

Thanks for pointing that out... I think you have addressed my issue.

In you opionion ... is the Accelerator Patch a bad thing?

I have never installed the patch myself but some have commented in the past that the hdd heads don't park properly at shutdown when using it on a laptop.

5 yrs later than original post by others I need help, mine is in PIO mode and somehow I've received a message from windows that the firmware needs updating.  I haven't tried the Hitachi website yet, wanted to check in with someone who knows something about this stuff as it's over my head.  Thanks in advance for any help and direction you can give.  I did an update on the windows drive for the IDE controller from device manager but it is the same one.  I've generally tried to do all the updates such as BIOS etc. for this machine and thought I was current.?

Dave

PS: I don't see the firmware updates for this system on site either.