Windows 7 - AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista

Awesome.. Glad I could help.

I used your guide when I first got my ssd and it worked. I upgraded and I installed a i7-960 today and had to do the "change the registry route" again. I did it but now after boot screens I got a message saying...
"BOOT FROM AHCI CD-ROM
DISK BOOT FAILURE"
I thought it was the boot order and it isnt. I checked all that and changed back to IDE in BIOS and default settings. I then went on an endless loop of boot up until right after the balls come together to form the windows logo then BSOD, until it goes to Windows repair to an earlier time message. After that and sweating bullets it restarts, loads all the i7-960 drivers, usb drivers and all is good. I checked in the registry and the value is still "0" even after the earlier time reset.
Any ideas??

The registry change is only meant to be done once. It's so that Windows knows the drive controller has changed and needs to reinstall drivers. Even if you switch back from AHCI to SATA, and then back to AHCI, Windows already has the drivers installed (even if they're not currently being used) so you don't need to do it again.

I suggest you try do a system restore to before the boot problems started, preferably before you even set up AHCI, then try it again.

Well, that would be before I installed the new cpu and it wont let me for some reason.
I think I am just going to do a new install with the Windows 7 disk I have from my first install. What steps do I need to follow to do an upgrade or repair install? At what point does the install ask if I want to use AHCI mode b/c I do not remember it asking last time. Do I enable AHCI in BIOS then restart w/ the Windows install disk in and go from there? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your help.

Yes, with AHCI selected in your BIOS before you install Windows 7 you will get the drivers loaded.

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7

How to Do a Inplace Upgrade Installation from Vista to Windows 7

Excellent tutorial. Worked for me, weather you notice performance gains or not, its still worth it, defiantly better than IDE, and HOT SWAP is another benefit, this tutorial makes it easy if you follow the steps carefully.( Still do a backup just incase ) Thanks a lot.

I followed the tutorial, after set the AHCI mode in Bios the system don't boot. I got "missing operation system" error.
The Hard Drive I'm trying to set as AHCI have 2 partitions, one for the OS and the other for files. The model is ST31000528AS.

I got another 2 Hds installed in the same PC, that I use with other OS that I only use to work, they are set to Raid0 and I use to switch from Raid0 to IDE often, I jump from "work HD" (which is Raid0 one) to "game HD" (which is the single drive with 2 partitions). Will I have a problem or something that I need to be aware of, for trying to use AHCI and switch daily to Raid to use the other OS in the same PC? Sorry for the noob question tho.

Any ideas?
Thanks

Hello Cabelo, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Often there is a RAID/AHCI setting in the BIOS instead of just AHCI, IDE, or RAID. Do you have this option to use, and what did you have it originally set to?

One important point to remember is boot order.. Often when changing the drive controller settings on a motherboard, the boot order changes.

On the other side, if you've already got a RAID setup, then all the features of AHCI that this tutorial aims to help people to use are already in use (most specifically, NCQ).

Unless I've missed something, I'd say if you're already using the drive controller in RAID mode, even if not all your drives are part of a RAID partition it would be better for you to leave your system as-is instead of trying to switch to AHCI.

Thanks for the warm welcome!


I got 4 hdds in total on my system and 2 different installations of windows 7.
Drive A 500gb - part of the Raid 0
Drive B 500gb - part of the Raid 0
Drive C 1tb = 2 partitions, 400mb to OS system and 600 to gaming Files.
Drive D 1tb = work project files storage

Drive A+B used in Raid 0. I use this with a install of windows 7 and only for work, like 3d applications and stuff. When this is active, I mean, when I boot into windows to work, I need to change in the Bios to RAID. Then, I'll use the OS to work and I'll have:

A+B drives (1tb) which is the C: operation system "to work"
D: partition with the "gaming operation system"
E: partition that contains the gaming files and
F: work projects files.

When I change in Bios from RAID to IDE, I'll boot to another OS, which I use only for gaming and I'll have:

C: partition with the "gaming operation system"
D: partition that contains the gaming files
E: the hard drive that in this case is the Raid one, that is unaccessible, and
F: work projects files


Sounds a bit complicated I know, I hope I could clarify things.
The Hard drive I'm trying to set as AHCI is the one that is partitioned and that I use only for gaming.


I'll try to see what is the order of the hard drives and I'll report back.


Thanks in advance.