AHCI Mode without reinstalling Windows

[polobunny]

The hard drive is currently on sale at a few etailers around that price (can be had for $94.99 at NCIX US with the same MIR or $89.99 moosebucks with instant rebate at NCIX.com)
Not a bad deal at all.
As for the enclosure that I can't tell, I'm not sure how much it usually retails but it looks like a good enough enclosure with eSATA and USB2.0

[Kent10]

I am trying to follow the directions in post #8 above. I downloaded the latest Intel Storage Manager Software which is 8.2 from here Download Search Results!

The file is called iata82_enu.exe So in step 1 where it says to run the file I tried to run iata82_enu.exe -a -a but I get the message that Windows cannot find the file. It is on my desktop. Can you see a reason why it won't run. Thanks, Kent

Edit: I think I have it. I did a browse for the file and it needs the full path.

"C:\Documents and Settings\Kent\Desktop\iata82_enu.exe" -a -a

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Kent10

I am trying to follow the directions in post #8 above. I downloaded the latest Intel Storage Manager Software which is 8.2 from here Download Search Results!

The file is called iata82_enu.exe So in step 1 where it says to run the file I tried to run iata82_enu.exe -a -a but I get the message that Windows cannot find the file. It is on my desktop. Can you see a reason why it won't run. Thanks, Kent

Edit: I think I have it. I did a browse for the file and it needs the full path.

"C:Documents and SettingsKentDesktopiata82_enu.exe" -a -a

That's exact. You need to be browsing the directory in your console or add a full path when doing the command.

[Kent10]

Thanks Polobunny. I was successful and am now in AHCI mode. One thing I don't like is that my BIOS Logo Screen does not show now and it take 3-5 seconds longer to start up the computer. I guess this is the driver loading. I also ran HD Tach to compare and the ACHI seems consistently a little slower but I assume this is just benchmarking and not important. With AHCI access time is usually 7.2 or 7.3 (numerous tests) while in IDE mode it is usually 7.1 or 7.2. Write caching is enabled.

Switching between IDE and AHCI seems to work fine. So am wondering if it OK to do that if and when I want now that the AHCI drivers are a part of Windows. I am not sure yet if I like the AHCI and I could restore with an image now if I want. Thanks

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Kent10

Thanks Polobunny. I was successful and am now in AHCI mode. One thing I don't like is that my BIOS Logo Screen does not show now and it take 3-5 seconds longer to start up the computer. I guess this is the driver loading. I also ran HD Tach to compare and the ACHI seems consistently a little slower but I assume this is just benchmarking and not important. With AHCI access time is usually 7.2 or 7.3 (numerous tests) while in IDE mode it is usually 7.1 or 7.2. Write caching is enabled.

Switching between IDE and AHCI seems to work fine. So am wondering if it OK to do that if and when I want now that the AHCI drivers are a part of Windows. I am not sure yet if I like the AHCI and I could restore with an image now if I want. Thanks

There's no problem going back to IDE by simply switching it in the BIOS, except that you lose all AHCI related functions.
Besides, 3 to 5 seconds is not much. You could save this disabling a few things (NVIDIA Display Driver Service, something that usually slows down boot by quite a lot which is not a necessary service for your video card to work right, or even your sound card (my X-Fi + drivers really slowed down my boot process))

[Kent10]

I found the Nvidia service but I could not find the X-Fi drivers I have. It is not a service, is it. I know these really slow down start up because I downloaded a newer version a while back and it was much slower so I went back to the older version since I wasn't having problems with it. I don't understand how disabling the driver for the sound card is OK though. Will I still get the same quality sound. Thanks.

[screwballl]

I remember that the RAID mode added an extra 15-20 seconds each boot so until I actually need it, I will keep it on IDE mode.

[Kent10]

Another thing I noticed that does not work with the AHCI BIOS is my F12 so that I can choose to boot from a CD. This is faster than going into the BIOS and changing the order. Maybe there is another key that works. I need to research.

OK I got F12 to work but you have to keep hitting it to be sure you get it. I am not sure where in the boot process you have to hit it. I don't think you get a very long time like in IDE mode with the Gigabyte BIOS. I think I can live with it though.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Kent10

I found the Nvidia service but I could not find the X-Fi drivers I have. It is not a service, is it. I know these really slow down start up because I downloaded a newer version a while back and it was much slower so I went back to the older version since I wasn't having problems with it. I don't understand how disabling the driver for the sound card is OK though. Will I still get the same quality sound. Thanks.

No, the X-Fi driver is indeed not a service. I touched more or less quickly on this once in a topic I made about my Windows re-install.

The X-Fi driver is loaded by Windows at boot (when you see the Windows XP loading bars).
Sometimes it adds up to 30 seconds to the boot process. A way to palliate this is to disable the device making the driver load (in this situation, your soundcard) and enable it once you are inside Windows.
Test it yourself by going to the Device Manager (Start->Run->"devmgmt.msc") and right clicking your sound card then disabling it. Reboot and see the difference between a normal boot and a boot with your sound card disabled.
It seems Windows has problems loading media devices drivers quickly.

If you see a big difference and you don't want to disable and enable manually your sound card everytime you shut down/boot Windows there's better ways to automate the process. The best way I found is via a script using devcon, a command line device control program made by Microsoft for developers and Group Policy Editor startup/shutdown scripts. I'll touch on that later if you are interested and notice a worthy enough difference in boot speed by disabling your sound card.

The only downside to the whole situation is that you won't have sound until you log in and 5 or so seconds after. This is not a side effect I consider even remotely annoying though, because the only sound usually playing at log in is the Windows welcome sound. :P

Edit: F12 should be hit around the part where you can press delete to enter the BIOS.

[screwballl]

anytime I use a pre-OS key, I press it multiple times anyways to make sure the system recognizes it.. whether it is F12 for the boot device, F5/F8 for safemode, Del/F1/F2 for Bios and so on... this can also help if a USB keyboard is not recognized right away or during windows boot it reloads the USB for a few seconds and wont go into safe mode after that...