ACHI or IDE for new SSD installation

Hi all,

I just got done installing an SSD in my older PC with Windows 7 64bit OS. Before installing the SSD I went into Bios and set it to ACHI mode, because I have read that is the best for SSD performance. However, I still have my old Windows XP installation on the HDD installed in my PC and found out it will not boot in ACHI mode. So My question is this, can I set my BIOS back to IDE mode and will it affect how my SSD runs and/or performs? Thanks in advance for any help!

Keep the SSD in AHCI mode. Make a backup of your data that is on your HDD and then format it. After that, you can move all your data back to the HDD. I would also suggest putting your "User" folder on your HDD as you don't need documents, pictures, downloads on your SSD. Your SSD should have the OS, any programs/applications you use, and if you have a couple games and have the space, put them on there too. A fresh install of Windows 7, with updates and drivers should only use about 30GB at the most. Programs/applications will add to that a little bit, but they need to be on the SSD.

Kelly

LittleJay said:

Hi all,

I just got done installing an SSD in my older PC with Windows 7 64bit OS. Before installing the SSD I went into Bios and set it to ACHI mode, because I have read that is the best for SSD performance. However, I still have my old Windows XP installation on the HDD installed in my PC and found out it will not boot in ACHI mode. So My question is this, can I set my BIOS back to IDE mode and will it affect how my SSD runs and/or performs? Thanks in advance for any help!

It's supposed to be possible to switch an existing XP installation to AHCI. I have never done it. The short version is:

Boot into XP with the SATA controllers in IDE mode.

Manually update the SATA controller drivers to the AHCI ones.

Restart. Set the SATA mode to AHCI in the BIOS before booting into Windows.


Be sure to backup (image) the drive before trying this, in case your XP installation is irretrievably messed up.

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for your response! However, I didn't do a very good job of making myself clear. I would like to keep the Windows XP installation and have a dual boot using EasyBCD, but in order to do that I would need to have my BIOS set in IDE mode for XP to boot. My question was whether that would affect my SSD, or not, if I run in IDE mode. I don't want to screw things up.

bobkn said:

LittleJay said:

Hi all,

I just got done installing an SSD in my older PC with Windows 7 64bit OS. Before installing the SSD I went into Bios and set it to ACHI mode, because I have read that is the best for SSD performance. However, I still have my old Windows XP installation on the HDD installed in my PC and found out it will not boot in ACHI mode. So My question is this, can I set my BIOS back to IDE mode and will it affect how my SSD runs and/or performs? Thanks in advance for any help!

It's supposed to be possible to switch an existing XP installation to AHCI. I have never done it. The short version is:

Boot into XP with the SATA controllers in IDE mode.

Manually update the SATA controller drivers to the AHCI ones.

Restart. Set the SATA mode to AHCI in the BIOS before booting into Windows.


Be sure to backup (image) the drive before trying this, in case your XP installation is irretrievably messed up.

Thanks for your reply! I have an older Intel MB in the PC and will have a look at their website to see if there are any ACHI SATA controller drivers for it. I have system images saved on a couple of separate HDDs so it wont be a problem restoring things if I have to.

My mistake

kbrady1979 said:

My mistake

No problem, but it was my fault for not explaining things well enough. I checked out the Intel site for ACHI SATA drivers for XP and couldn't find anything. So I decided to take your advice and use the HDD for storage. I have images of XP saved, so if I ever need it, I can restore it to my HDD.

Thanks a lot to everyone who took the time to reply! I really appreciate it!