I use a Samsung DVD/CDR combo for ripping and an Artec DVD+/-R for burning. My Samsung's reading speed suddenly dropped to ~1/5 (~1,200 vs ~5,200). It's taking more than an hour to rip. If I use Artec to rip, it reads at normal (high) speed. Why would the Samsung slows down all of a sudden (just yesterday)? How do you fix it? - Bert
I solved it myself. Somehow my drive dropped to PIO mode instead of DMA. I uninstalled the controller (secondary IDE channel) in Device Manager and then right click on IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to Scan for hardware. When the secondary IDE channel comes back, it will put the drive back to DMA instead of PIO.