IDE to AHCI mode

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high_lander

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Oct 10, 2005
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I have a Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 3.3. I have installed Vista. I want to increase my HDD performance. I went in the BIOS and changed the mode from IDE to AHCI. Restarted and then got a BSOD and PC restarted. My question:

Do I need to install Vista in AHCI mode or is there a way to convert to AHCI after the fact?

If this is in the wrong section, please let me know.
 
The AHCI mode needs a different driver than the IDE mode. If you can somehow coax windows into installing that driver, you should be able to convert. I have no experience with trying this.
 
I focused my chi and my google-fu and came up with this:

1. Exit all Windows-based programs.
2. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
3. If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
4. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
5. In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

Source:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 (This link is dead. MS has taken the page down.)

Then go into your BIOS and set AHCI for your SATA drives. Upon boot Vista will install the proper driver and you'll be set.
 
high_lander said:
I have a Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 3.3. I have installed Vista. I want to increase my HDD performance. I went in the BIOS and changed the mode from IDE to AHCI. Restarted and then got a BSOD and PC restarted. My question:

Do I need to install Vista in AHCI mode or is there a way to convert to AHCI after the fact?

If this is in the wrong section, please let me know.
Click to expand...

This is the right forum but if you read the first post it´s all in there.
 
As a single user your not going to get much from AHCI. Will you be "hot swapping" drives? Command queuing hardly helps a single user. I used Simply Software to measure performance in both modes and AHCI just didn't offer anything for the PITA it is to install with the F6 calisthenics and whatnot. SATA 2.0 is mostly a gimmick too for most people.
 
high_lander said:
I focused my chi and my google-fu and came up with this:

1. Exit all Windows-based programs.
2. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
3. If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
4. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
5. In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

Source:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 (This link is dead. MS has taken the page down.)

Then go into your BIOS and set AHCI for your SATA drives. Upon boot Vista will install the proper driver and you'll be set.
Click to expand...

thanks for posting your solution.

pbls said:
This is the right forum but if you read the first post it´s all in there.
Click to expand...

I have looked through the `answers' thread and couldn't find any reference to AHCI. Mind linking me directly to the post that you are talking about?

abcdelight said:
As a single user your not going to get much from AHCI. Will you be "hot swapping" drives? Command queuing hardly helps a single user. I used Simply Software to measure performance in both modes and AHCI just didn't offer anything for the PITA it is to install with the F6 calisthenics and whatnot. SATA 2.0 is mostly a gimmick too for most people.
Click to expand...
According to Storagereview's Performance database, NCQ is detrimental to single-user desktop performance.
Having said that, HDTach (Simply Software's benchmark) is a linear benchmark. Since it issues requests in order, it would be surprising to see any difference with or without NCQ.
 
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