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Changed SATA mode from IDE to AHCI, some OS utilities broke
I replaced the hard drive on my Gateway NV5909h (variation of NV59) laptop with a 750 GB Hitachi HTS547575A9E384. With some Gateway Recovery DVDs I'd made earlier, and with SATA mode being IDE, I restored the laptop's original Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit onto that hard drive.
After allowing Windows Update to install all the latest OS updates (including Service Pack 1), I tried following the steps at AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista, editing theiastorv and msahci registry entries, to allow changing SATA mode from IDE to AHCI.
I was able to boot into the OS in AHCI mode after making that change in the BIOS, and the Driver Software Installation window popped up, and all the AHCI-related drivers seemed to all install correctly.
However, after using my laptop for a few days, using both IDE and AHCI modes, I noticed at least 2 issues in AHCI mode that didn't occur in IDE mode:
- Windows Update doesn't work in AHCI mode, but works without noticeable issues in IDE mode. In AHCI mode, when I click "Check for updates" at the main Windows Update screen, I get a message saying, "Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer." Restarting seems to do nothing.
- Any troubleshooter doesn't work in AHCI mode. For example, when I right-click on my network taskbar icon and click "Troubleshoot problems", I see the message, "An problem is preventing the troubleshooter from starting.", with an error code of 0x8E5E0247.
Other notes:
- I couldn't successfully install the OS when I ran the installation while in AHCI mode; the installation process would always run into issues.
- I recall that at some point after installation and switching to AHCI mode afterward, running an installer for app would result in an error and the app not being installed; however, that seems to have resolved itself.
- Not sure if this is relevant, but about 20% of the time, when I try to boot in IDE mode (hasn't yet happened when booting in AHCI), I get a black screen with a blinking white underscore in the top-left corner, instead of the "Starting Windows" screen. Whenever this happens, I have to reboot, go into the BIOS and then exit (I don't even have to make any BIOS changes), to boot into Windows successfully.
Last edited by Gun eeu; 13 Sep 2017 at 22:45. Reason: More info