IDE or AHCI?

[stevecamp09]

Ok so I recently put my new PC together (see sig) and inadvertently set the mode for the primary boot drive (my SSD) to be in IDE mode instead of AHCI. Is this a big enough deal for me to worry about attempting to change it? I seem to remember reading that if an SSD is connected to a SATA port as an AHCI device, that it's not necessary to run any kind of optimization on it. I had the Intel SSD toolbox that I can run weekly to optimize so that's not a big deal but is there anything else I should worry about?

Thanks in advance for any input

 

[criccio]

1. Click start orb and type regedit
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/msahci
3. Right click on Start and hit modify
4. Change the value to 0
5. Reboot and enter bios
6. Every bios layout is different but switch to ahci
7. Windows will load and then install drivers
8. Reboot again and enjoy

My SSD benchmark scores jumped up considerably.

 

[atreidesgoldenpath]

I did the same thing, but I don't have SSD. I think after a week or two more of playing around with things I will switch it over to AHCI and reinstall Windows 7, just to get a clean slate.

What I have noticed is that my whole 10 sata ports go through an IDE startup detection which seems to add a few seconds to boot. And my DVD burner is MASTER and hard drive is SLAVE. I don't think that is good either?

 

[stevecamp09]

My SSD benchmark scores jumped up considerably.

I was worried doing something like this might lead to a big mess that i'd be better avoiding...that said, I have not benchmarked my SSD yet but it appears to be running great and boot times are very good. Thanks for the guide...so there is no concern to my data on my boot drive if I follow these steps?

 

[criccio]

I was worried doing something like this might lead to a big mess that i'd be better avoiding...that said, I have not benchmarked my SSD yet but it appears to be running great and boot times are very good. Thanks for the guide...so there is no concern to my data on my boot drive if I follow these steps?

There is always concern... Then again, it takes like 30 seconds to do so just get it over with!

 

[stevecamp09]

There is always concern... Then again, it takes like 30 seconds to do so just get it over with!

Well I grew some cajones and made the change...nervous to say the least but it worked like a charm. I benchmarked and the read times are significantly better (around 275mb versus around 240mb), the write times stayed about the same (around 115mb). So some improvement...thanks for the help

 

[criccio]

Haha, glad I could help.

 

[LOLANG]

I have a SSD with Windows 7 Home Premium, and a 640GB HDD with XP, will the registry fix work with my HDD? I tried setting to AHCI in BIOS and XP would not boot, but have yet to try the registry change.

 

[engiNURD]

I have a SSD with Windows 7 Home Premium, and a 640GB HDD with XP, will the registry fix work with my HDD? I tried setting to AHCI in BIOS and XP would not boot, but have yet to try the registry change.

It's a bit tougher with XP, but still possible. Google for the procedure -- its more complicated than a simple registry setting, IIRC; you should be able to do it with a repair installation (assuming your XP CD has the latest controller drivers slipstreamed; if not, use nLite; this is what I did, and it worked fine). Here's another procedure found via google (seems slightly easier than a repair):
http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=444831

 

[LOLANG]

It's a bit tougher with XP, but still possible. Google for the procedure -- its more complicated than a simple registry setting, IIRC; you should be able to do it with a repair installation (assuming your XP CD has the latest controller drivers slipstreamed; if not, use nLite; this is what I did, and it worked fine). Here's another procedure found via google (seems slightly easier than a repair):
http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=444831

Will check it out when I get home, thanks!