Switched to AHCI, now have IDE error

[howdy76]

Hi there,

A quick question. I had installed windows 7x64 with the default bios setting of the drives to IDE mode. Tonight I followed the MS registry fix and changed them over to AHCI mode. Now in my device manager I have 2 IDE channels with the yellow exclamation point.

When I go into properties I see these are IDE channel 0 and IDE channel 1. I suspect that these are the "old" disk drives that windows can no longer see now that they are in AHCI mode. Is that correct?

Now to the fix, I suspect I should be able to click uninstall on both IDE Channels and the problem will go away and not come back, but I am nervous about stuff like that... could someone offer some reassurance?

Cheers

[kent1146]

Yes, they are the old IDE channels. IDE and AHCI appear like entirely different drive controllers to the OS - you can safely delete them without error.

***HOWEVER*** - you ARE screwing with hard drives and hard disk controller drivers. Just like anything else, ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BACKUPS and/or a RECOVERY PLAN before you take advice from a stranger on the internet (even a well-informed and well-intentioned stranger).

[Steve R Jones]

Did you know that there is NO Reason to do any of the things you're doing

And ditto to what Kent said about backing up.

[howdy76]

Hi,

Thanks for the reassurance (and I ALWAYS have a back-up!). I had been told and read that swapping the SATA2 drives to AHCI from IDE would increase performance in some games (specifically DCS:Black Shark), and increase drive access speed. Accessing the drives SEEMS to go faster, but that could just be the placebo effect making me feel warm and fuzzy.

On a related note, now both HDD's show up in the little "Safely Remove Hardware" icon on the task bar. Is there a way to force them not to show up there? It's not the end of the world as I am generally pretty careful but my wife uses the computer as well and is not as careful as I would like her to be.

Thanks

[kent1146]

Hi,

Thanks for the reassurance (and I ALWAYS have a back-up!). I had been told and read that swapping the SATA2 drives to AHCI from IDE would increase performance in some games (specifically DCS:Black Shark), and increase drive access speed. Accessing the drives SEEMS to go faster, but that could just be the placebo effect making me feel warm and fuzzy.

On a related note, now both HDD's show up in the little "Safely Remove Hardware" icon on the task bar. Is there a way to force them not to show up there? It's not the end of the world as I am generally pretty careful but my wife uses the computer as well and is not as careful as I would like her to be.

Thanks

1) IDE or AHCI mode doesn't matter - the speed of the drive is limited by the phyiscs and mechanics of the drive, and not the interface bandwidth. It you get a placebo speed bump because it satisfies your need to be a max-min competionist, then it's worth it.

2) No, can't make it go away. But if it makes you feel better, you also cannot "accidentally" disconnect your OS drive, since it will always consider itself as "in use".

[RealBeast]

Win7 is very easy to install with AHCI enabled -- just enable it in the bios BEFORE the install and you will have no issues.

It was my understanding that AHCI is needed for hot plugging eSATA devices and enabling NCQ.

[James]

It was my understanding that AHCI is needed for hot plugging eSATA devices and enabling NCQ.

NCQ is probably the biggest thing you gain by going with AHCI. This can provide a definite performance boost. Sure, maximum throughput will still be limited by the mechanical nature of the drive. But NCQ doesn't help maximum throughput. It helps boost throughput on random reads and writes, which are greatly affected by either having NCQ/AHCI, or the older legacy IDE mode.

[howdy76]

Ok, so this is a little wierd,

The problem devices keep coming back on a reboot. Twice they've shown up as IDE channels 0, and 1... twice they've shown up as ATA 0 and ATA 1.

In device manager, under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers I have:
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 1
ATA Channel 1
ATA Channel 2
ATA Channel 3
ATA Channel 4
ATA Channel 5
IDE Channel
IDE Channel

The IDE's when present have the yellow exclamation point denoting a problem, when they show up as ATA's they show up as a 3rd ATA 0 and a 3rd ATA 1.

Inside I have 2 hdd's on one SATA2 cable and a dvd drive on the other SATA2 cable. When I made the change, I changed SATA Raid/AHCI Mode from disabled to AHCI and then changed "Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode from IDE to AHCI.

Other than the recurring exclamation points, everything is running flawlessly

Any thoughts?

[Steve R Jones]

Other than the recurring exclamation points, everything is running flawlessly

Any thoughts?

Leave it alone while you still have a pc that boots up

[kent1146]

Agree 100% with Steve R Jones.

Stop messing with it. The only potential benefit you get at this point is to satisfy the obsessive-compulsive-completionist part of you. The drawback is that you can really screw up your OS installation.

I say, leave it alone for now, and just re-install in AHCI mode whenever you get around to reformatting your machine.

[Steve R Jones]

Predicting the future

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

http://www.recuva.com/

[howdy76]

Sounds like what my wife said .... "If it's not broken why are you messing with it"

I'll leave it alone for now then! Thanks for all the advice

Cheers