My system:
Dell Dimension 4400
1g RAM
2.0 ghz P4
Radeon 9550 256mb
Windows XP SP3
HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 40gb

OK, I had 2 HDD's the Seagate, and a 40 gb Western Digital. SOmehow, the WD went BAD. I removed it, and did a fresh XP install on the Seagate. But when it loads Windows, it's extremely slow. It's so slow, it can't keep up with the mouse, and can take up to a half hour to boot up. It can be ANYWHERE from 20 to 30 minutes to load the start menu when I click the start button. I tried an extra 10gb WD HDD but, the same problem. If I run direct x diagnostic It recognizes all my RAM and processor, but I am unable to reinstall video drivers, it just SHUTS down, and will only let me boot into safe mode until I remove the driver. Why would a brand new install on a seperate disc than the one that malfunctioned be so slow. Not spyware/virus slow, but really really slow. Please help. Any advise is much appreciated.
EDIT:
Also, I read a forum that suggested I remove the motherboard battery for 5 minutes, then reattach it. I did, but it reset all my BIOS settings, maybe one of my BIOS settings is incorrect, and causing the PC not to respond correctly. Have you ever had problems with the Seagate before? Such as slow transfer speeds and what not? If it is a 40gb it's probably pretty old...The Drive/controller may have dropped into PIO mode which Windows does automatically if more than 5 or 6 disk errors happen...
Go to Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager and click on IDE/ATA ATAPI controllers to expand it...
Right click Primary IDE Controller and select Properties and then select Advanced...
REPORT back with your findings,
It should be set to UDMA/DMA if available.To answer #1: I doubt it's the actual HDD because I tried the small 10 gb WD HDD from my P3 and it behaves in the same slow way. I think it may be a BIOS setting or something.

To answer #2: I will follow your instructions, it may be an hour to get back, as the PC is so slow it will probably take that long. I will continue to use this old P3 to check this forum with the results, ty for the help so far OK, Patio
I did what you suggested. It is already set to DMA. Any other ideas? I'm completely baffled on this one. Is it possible one of my Bios setting is wrong, because I removed the motherboard battery and reset the BIOS? Also whenever I install the seagate on my P3 600mghz 128mb RAM, it runs fine, which by TROUBLESHOOTING process makes me believe the problem is on the motherboard or BIOS. Try setting the BIOS to "Optimized Defaults" or similar; "Save and Exit."1) Try it on another IDE channel
2) Use a brand new IDE ribbon cable

If you are able to get it recognised in Disk Management right click it and select Properties...
Report back with your findings.