Enabling AHCI hard drives without reinstalling Windows. What is the AHCI mode of the SATA controller? standard ahci serial ata controller

Modern hard drives are connected to the motherboard of computer devices via the SATA interface, which provides for operation, in particular, in IDE and AHCI modes. IDE is the old mode and is required for compatibility with legacy hardware and software. The AHCI mode is also not a new development in the field of IT, it appeared back in 2004, but it is the current mechanism for connecting hard drives via the SATA II and SATA III interface. AHCI has a number of advantages over IDE:

• the ability to connect more devices to the motherboard;
• operation of hard drives at their maximum possible speed;
• the so-called "hot swapping" of hard drives, that is, disconnecting and connecting without having to turn off the computer;
• support for NCQ technology, which improves the performance of hard drives in multitasking conditions.

SATA mode is set in the BIOS. On modern laptops, AHCI mode is usually set by default. But new motherboards for PC builds may come with an active IDE mode for hardware compatibility. You can change IDE to AHCI (or vice versa) at any time in the BIOS of computers that support both modes. Not all computers support AHCI, but most of them, because this mode has been around for 12 years. The minority are rare rare devices released to the market, respectively, before the advent of AHCI. But even if the computer is less than 12 years old, if it supports AHCI, switching to this mode can still be problematic due to the lack of a corresponding setting in the outdated BIOS version. In such cases, you must first resolve the issue with updating the BIOS.

1. How to find out which mode - IDE or AHCI - is currently set

You can find out which of the modes - IDE or AHCI - is currently active on the computer in the Windows Device Manager. Opening the thread:

• "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" in versions of Windows 8.1 and 10;
• "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" in Windows 7 version.

If the computer's hard drives are connected via AHCI mode, the SATA AHCI controller will be present in the list of devices.

If IDE mode is active on the computer, the branch list will contain an entry, respectively, about the IDE controller.

An alternative way is to use the AS SSD Benchmark utility to test the speed of hard drives. If hard drives can work in AHCI mode, but the BIOS is set to IDE, the utility will notify you with the red color value "pciide BAD".

If the computer is operating in AHCI mode, we will see the green value “storahci - OK” in the utility window.

These two methods will make it possible to understand which mode is currently set. But in order to determine whether support for AHCI mode is implemented in the BIOS, you need to enter it and find the possibility of enabling AHCI. The choice of SATA operating modes in different BIOS versions may be in the "Advanced" or "Main" sections. For example, in the UEFI BIOS of the Asus motherboard, this is the “Advanced” section, in it you need to enter the “SATA Configuration” subsection and open the options for the “SATA Mode” parameter (SATA Mode).

Another example is the BIOS AMI (V17.9) of an MSI motherboard, everything is more complicated here, and not everyone will be able to immediately figure out where the AHCI setting is. In the "Integrated Peripherals" section, select the "On-Chip ATA Devices" subsection, and in it - "Raid Mode" (Raid Mode), which provides for the choice of hard drive connection modes.

2. Consequences of switching to AHCI mode for Windows operation

So, you can change the IDE mode to AHCI at any time in the BIOS settings. But for Windows, such a move will not result in a slight delay at startup due to the automatic installation of the necessary drivers, as when replacing some computer components. In this case, even getting rid of binding to computer components using the standard Windows Sysprep utility will not help, as is the case with replacing the motherboard or processor. Changing the IDE mode to AHCI leads to serious consequences - Windows simply will no longer start. As a result, we get either a blue screen of death, or a cyclic reboot of Windows with a notification about an incorrect system startup.

The fact is that the IDE and AHCI modes are registered at the registry level when installing Windows. For hard drives to work in AHCI mode, a special driver is required, which is automatically installed with versions of Windows starting with Vista. Since the AHCI mode appeared later than Windows XP, the AHCI driver must first be integrated into the distribution kit of this version of the system by taking it from the motherboard driver disk or downloading it from the Internet.

Ideally, switching to AHCI mode should be done prior to installing or reinstalling Windows. But there are ways to activate AHCI without having to reinstall Windows - by starting safe mode or editing the system registry. Below we will consider these methods for versions of Windows 7, 8.1 and 10.

3. Mandatory measures and procedures

In principle, any experimentation with Windows can lead to undesirable results, but methods for adapting the operating system to AHCI mode must be taken with particular seriousness. Because in this case, the settings that affect the ability of the system to boot will be affected. It is strictly forbidden to proceed with the implementation of the instructions below without previously prepared emergency means. You must either burn or create and prepare Windows installation media. With the help of the latter, it will be possible to enter or, in extreme cases, start the process of reinstalling Windows.

The procedure is as follows:

• Step 1 - check the AHCI enable setting in the BIOS;
• Step 2 - preparation of emergency means;
• Step 3 - depending on the chosen method, either setting up the next system startup in safe mode, or editing the system registry;
• Step 4 - reboot, enter BIOS and enable AHCI mode;
• Step 5 - Start the computer.

4. Windows Safe Mode

The first method is based on the fact that when you enter Windows Safe Mode, the AHCI driver will be installed automatically. But, unfortunately, it will not work in every case. On a running system, you need to configure the next startup in safe mode, reboot, enter the BIOS and set the AHCI mode. After starting the computer in safe mode, the AHCI driver is supposed to be installed. If everything goes well, all that remains is to reboot the system in normal operation.

A universal way to enter safe mode at the next Windows boot for all current versions of the system is to use the msconfig utility, called using the Run command.

5. Editing the Windows Registry

If the safe mode method did not work, you can avoid reinstalling the system by editing its registry. To launch the registry editor, in the Run command field, enter:

4.1 Editing the Windows 8.1 and 10 registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

In this branch, we look for the “iaStorV” folder, click on it, open the “Start” parameter and set its value to “0”. Click "OK".

Open the "iaStorV" folder, select the "StartOverride" subfolder, open the "0" parameter and set its value to "0". Click "OK".

We go down alphabetically and find the folder "storahci". We make a click on it, open the "ErrorControl" parameter. We remove the preset value "3" and enter "0" instead. Click "OK".

4.2. Editing the Windows 7 Registry

Open the branch in the registry editor window:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services

In the branch we find the “iaStorV” folder, click on it, open the “Start” parameter and set the value to “0”. Click "OK".

After editing the registry, we restart the computer, go into the BIOS, activate the AHCI mode and start the system.

6. If Windows won't boot

If none of the methods helped to adapt Windows to work in AHCI mode, the system will have to be reinstalled. But the current Windows can be started if, for example, you need to remove the settings of installed software or save some important files stored on drive C in a safe place. To do this, you need to enter the BIOS again and set the IDE active mode setting back.

However, it may also happen that the system cannot boot in either AHCI or IDE mode. If there is no blue screen of death, but versions of Windows 8.1 and 10 reboot cyclically, displaying a screen that says "Automatic Repair", click "Advanced Options".

Going to the "Select action" menu, we go through the path indicated in the screenshot below and roll back to the restore point.

If the blue screen of death appears when the computer starts, boot from the Windows installation media and select the “System Restore” option at the bottom of the system installation.

Once in the "Select action" menu, we follow the steps described above.

Those who choose the backup method using third-party software use, respectively, the bootable media of the backup program.

Have a great day!

Greetings to all, today we will consider how you can enable Windows 10 to boot using the protocol AHCI without reinstalling the operating system. How to enable AHCI mode in Windows 10 after installing the system, if for some reason reinstallation with AHCI mode pre-enabled in BIOS or UEFI is not possible, and the system was installed in IDE mode. I note that for almost all modern computers with a preinstalled OS, this mode is already enabled, and the change itself is especially relevant for SSD drives and laptops, since the AHCI mode allows you to increase SSD performance and at the same time (albeit slightly) reduce power consumption.

On my PC, like many users, the Windows 10 operating system is installed on an SSD, and all files are stored on the HDD hard drive. When installing from a flash drive cut from the official image of Windows 10 with the Creators Update, for some reason it was not possible to install immediately in AHCI mode and had to install using the standard IDE. As a result, the speed of the SSD according to the test is 100 units lower than the declared one, the HDD with files is annoyingly buzzing.

Immediately after switching, the benefits are noticeable:

• HDD is noticeably quieter;
• SSD gives out full speed, if with IDE it gave out 425 and 445, then with AHCI it gives out full speed 514 and 548.

Now a bit of what it is...

(AHCI)

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a mechanism used to connect storage devices using the Serial ATA protocol, allowing you to use advanced features such as built-in command queuing (NCQ) and hot swapping.

Designed to replace the outdated classic ATA controller, which maintains top-down compatibility with the original IBM PC/AT, and supports DMA only as an add-on. The main real problems with this controller are the lack of hot-swap support (despite the fact that eSATA hardware supports it) and command queues, on one channel (in the case of SATA each device has one channel) - only one command can be executed at a time. Thus, using the ATA NCQ feature, even if it is supported by the disk itself, is impossible on a classic ATA controller.

When switching, with Windows already installed, the ATA controller included in the south bridge to the "AHCI" mode, this will mean, for the installed operating system, the activation of incompatible logic of the hard drive controller - this action is equivalent to installing an ATA controller board other than from the existing one, and physically switching the boot disk to this board.

And one more detail: the described actions in theory can also lead to undesirable consequences, such as the inability to start the OS, in this case, Windows will not find the boot disk at boot and will crash with a BSOD STOP 0x0000007B, INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.. Therefore, take them on only if you know what you are doing it for, know how to get into BIOS or UEFI and are ready to correct unforeseen consequences if something happens (for example, by reinstalling Windows 10 from the very beginning in AHCI mode).

You can find out if AHCI mode is currently enabled by looking at the UEFI or BIOS settings (in the SATA device settings) or directly in the OS.

Well, now let's get down to business...

Enabling AHCI using the Windows 10 Registry Editor

It seems to me that this is the easiest, and most importantly, trouble-free way.

To open the registry, press the Win + R keys on your keyboard and enter regedit.

1. Go to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ iaStorV, double click on the parameter start and set its value to 0 (zero).

2. In the adjacent registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ iaStorAV\ StartOverride for a parameter named 0 set the value to zero.

3. Section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ storahci for parameter start set to 0 (zero).

4. In subsection HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ storahci\ StartOverride for a parameter named 0 set the value to zero.

5. Close the registry editor.

In my case, the values ​​needed to be changed only in steps 2 and 4.

Restart your computer and enter UEFI or BIOS. In UEFI or BIOS, find in the SATA parameters the choice of the drive mode. Set it to AHCI, then save the settings and restart your computer.

Immediately after the reboot, the OS will begin installing the SATA drivers, and upon completion, you will be prompted to restart the computer. Do it: AHCI mode is enabled in Windows 10. But I would immediately like to note that for many boards the driver is already in the OS and the system will not load it or install (install) it in the usual way for us, after rebooting the desired AHCI is immediately turned on.

In 95%, everything goes smoothly and without a hitch, but it's still better to play it safe. To do this, do the following:

At the same time, it is better to start Windows 10 for the first time after rebooting in safe mode, and therefore I recommend enabling safe mode in advance using Win + R -

If you have UEFI, in this case I recommend doing this through "Settings" (Win + I) - "Update and Security" - "Recovery" - "Special Boot Options". Then go to "Troubleshooting" - "Advanced Options" - "UEFI Software Settings". For systems with BIOS - use the F2 key (usually on laptops) or Delete (on PCs) to enter the BIOS settings.

Enabling and configuring the AHCI mode is worth every user who wants to improve and expand the capabilities of the computer in working with SATA hard drives and, especially, SSDs.

The mode allows you to increase the speed of your computer due to the increased speed of data access, and to activate it, you need to perform just a few simple steps.

Before considering the options for enabling the mode, you should first familiarize yourself with its features and the principle of operation.

What is AHCI

The interface of modern SATA hard drives that support data transfer rates from 1.5 Gb / s to 6 Gb / s is capable of operating in two modes:

1. AHCI.

The first provides compatibility with older devices (drives manufactured in the 2000s). The speed of even the most productive drives in this mode is not much different from those very outdated models. The more modern AHCI mode allows you to take full advantage of the SATA interface. For example, disconnecting and connecting disks to the motherboard on the fly, without turning off the computer or with the possibility of minimally moving disk heads to increase speed.

By activating the mode, the user speeds up the launch of files, reading and writing information on disks and increases the overall performance of the computer. And, although the increase may not be so significant (within 20%), for some tasks such an improvement may be important. If you have SATA SSD drives in your work, this option is the only one possible for the device to work efficiently.

IMPORTANT: Should you enable AHCI on an SSD?

When using AHCI mode on an SSD drive, you will only get results if you have a SATA II / III interface, in other cases there will be no performance improvement.

How to check if the mode is enabled

If you are going to enable AHCI mode, make sure that it is not already in use on your computer. If you don't run high-performance applications, you have a powerful processor and enough memory available, you may simply not notice what mode you are working in.

You can check if AHCI is enabled or disabled in this way:

1. First you should go to the properties of the computer (Start menu, item "Computer", sub-item "Properties" in the context menu);
2. Open device manager;
3. Open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers section;
4. If there is a device with AHCI in its name, the mode works. If there is no such disk in the list (and you do not have an outdated IDE hard drive, but a more modern one), you will have to turn on the mode yourself.

The second way to check if AHCI is working is to restart the computer and go to the BIOS menu (using one of the available options - it differs slightly for different motherboards and laptops, although most often it consists in pressing the function keys - from Esc to F12).

Having entered the BIOS (or UEFI), make sure in which mode SATA operates by finding the item SATA Mode or SATA Configuration.

Tip: With the IDE mode set, you should not immediately switch it to AHCI and save it - especially if you have Windows 7.

How to enable AHCI mode

Enabling this mode on a computer can be done directly from the BIOS.

At the same time, if you have Windows 7, after trying to boot the system, an inscription like 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE will most likely appear on the screen, indicating the impossibility of working with the disk. Sometimes the same situation occurs with Windows 8 and 10, but the likelihood of a message appearing is less - most often the computer starts up or starts to constantly reboot.

The situation will be completely different if you select the AHCI mode before installing the system. This will allow the software from the installation disk to recognize the HDD or SSD settings during the installer launch process, and there will be no problems starting the mode.

Difficulties begin only if the system is already installed on the drive, and the user is going to change the IDE parameter to SATA and enable NCQ (Native Command Queuing, an extension of the SATA protocol that significantly increases the speed of working with information by optimizing the order in which commands are received). In this case, you will have to use either the registry editor or safe mode, depending on the operating system. If none of these actions provide the desired result, all that remains is to enable AHCI and reinstall the system.

For Windows 7

One of the most popular operating systems today, Windows 7, requires the use of the registry or a special utility to switch to AHCI mode. The first option includes the following steps:

1. Launching the registry editor (Win + R to open the Run menu, entering the regedit command and confirming the changes);

1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci;
2. Going to the Start item, whose default value is 3, and changing it to zero;

1. Switching in the same subsection from the msahci item to IastorV and searching for the Start parameter;
2. Changing the triple to zero;
3. Closing the editor.

Now it remains to restart the computer and enable the desired AHCI mode in the BIOS menu. After the system boots, Windows 7 will automatically install drivers for all drives connected to the motherboard, and then require another reboot to make changes. The last step in setting the mode is to check whether the write cache mode is enabled in the disk properties. If it is not enabled, the function should be run.

Another option is the Microsoft Fix it utility, which allows you to get rid of errors after enabling the new mode (you can download it from the official Microsoft website). After launching and choosing the appropriate action to correct problems, the application will automatically make all the necessary changes, and the error message will no longer appear.

For Windows 8 and 8.1

If Windows 8 or 8.1 is already installed on the computer, you can use safe mode to configure the AHCI mode. To do this, when an error occurs:

1. Return IDE mode to BIOS;
2. to restart a computer;
3. Run the command prompt as administrator ("Start" / "All Programs" / "Accessories");
4. Enter the command bcdedit / set (current) safeboot minimal

1. Press the enter button;
2. Restart PC and enter BIOS;
3. Enable AHCI mode;
4. Run the command line again;
5. Enter the command bcdedit /deletevalue (current) safeboot;
6. Reboot the system again, after which Windows should stop giving an error message.

If your system is running on an Intel processor, there is an additional option to enable AHCI using a utility from this manufacturer (this method does not work for AMD).

To use it you should:

1. Download the f6flpy file (mode driver) from the official Intel website, choosing the appropriate version (x32 or x64);
2. Download the SetupRST.exe file from the same resource;
3. Open device manager and manually install the new f6 AHCI driver instead of SATA in the properties of your hard drive;
4. Reboot the PC and enable AHCI in BIOS (UEFI);
5. Run the SetupRST.exe file, which should fix the problem automatically.

For Windows 10

Windows 10 also allows you to use the utility for Intel processors, reinstall the system and safe mode to fix the error when switching the mode. But the most effective option would be to use the registry editor, which is slightly different from the similar method in Windows 7.

To use this method you need:

1. Log in as administrator;
2. Run the registry editor in one of the available ways (the easiest way is through the "Run" window and the regedit command);
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorV and find its Start parameter by changing its value to 0;
4. Find the parameter with the name 0 in the adjacent Services\iaStorAV\StartOverride subsection, setting the zero value for it as well;
5. Go to the Services\storahci subsection, reset the Start parameter;
6. In the Services\storahci\StartOverride subkey, set the value to zero for the 0 parameter.
7. Close the editor and restart the computer;
8. Enter BIOS during system boot and enable AHCI mode.

Tip: It is recommended that you start Windows 10 for the first time in safe mode, for which this option is enabled using the Run menu (Win + R) and entering the msconfig command to display the system configuration window. Here you need to select the "Download" tab and check the safe mode item, indicating the "Minimum" option.

Fig.9. Mode switching in UEFI interface

For the standard BIOS interface, you can go to its settings by pressing the corresponding function key during boot. For example, F2 or F12, depending on the motherboard or laptop model, if the setting is made for it.

After the first boot, Windows 10 will install all the necessary drivers to work with AHCI, and will not generate any errors in the future. At the same time, the speed of working with data should increase - especially if the disk has a SATA III interface.

Other features of the mode

For legacy Windows XP, there is no option to set AHCI mode. During its development, this option was not even assumed. If you really want to, the driver you need is easy to find on the net and integrate into the system. Process instructions can also be found on the Internet, but we do not recommend performing such actions. First of all, because the processor and the entire computer, which only supports the Windows XP system, setting the AHCI mode is unlikely to significantly help speed up. Second, significant differences between drivers increase the chance of an error that could result in data being lost from the disk.

For Windows Vista, the process of enabling the mode is the same as for the 7th version of the system - that is, using the registry or a utility. And Windows NT can be configured similarly to the recommendations for XP. There are driver options for other systems - from Unix to MacOS, as ssd drives and SATA are gaining popularity among users of any system.

conclusions

In most cases, after performing the appropriate action on the system, AHCI mode starts working normally, and the system runs a little faster. If no results were achieved, you can try to reinstall the system after changing the mode - this may take longer, but it guarantees the result.

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a mechanism used to connect storage devices using the Serial ATA protocol, allowing you to use advanced features such as built-in command queuing (NCQ) and hot swapping.

Designed to replace the outdated classic ATA controller, which maintains top-down compatibility with the original IBM PC/AT, and supports DMA only as an add-on. The main real problems with this controller are the lack of hot-swap support (despite the fact that eSATA hardware supports it) and command queues, on one channel (in the case of SATA each device has one channel) - only one command can be executed at a time. Thus, using the ATA NCQ feature, even if it is supported by the disk itself, is impossible on a classic ATA controller.

When switching, with Windows already installed, the ATA controller included in the south bridge to the "AHCI" mode, this will mean, for the installed operating system, the activation of incompatible logic of the hard drive controller - this action is equivalent to installing an ATA controller board other than from the existing one, and physically switching the boot disk to this board.

In this case, Windows will not find the boot disk at boot and will crash with a BSOD STOP 0x0000007B, INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

Text taken from the free encyclopedia http://wikipedia.org/

So, since you came to my site, it means that we have a common problem that you had after buying a new SSD (For example, in OGO.ru). And after reading the text above, you could understand its root. For some reason, Microsoft still cannot make a free transition from one driver to another. And to do this, users have to work a little with their hands, but in principle, very little. To solve the problem, you need to install the AHCI driver in Windows before switching to the BIOS, or rather, make a small correction in the registry. This instruction is for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. For Windows 8, the instruction is slightly different and is available at the link:

I. Manually Switching Windows 7 to AHCI Mode

1) Go to the registry. To do this, use WIN + R and in the window that opens, write regedit:

2) The built-in "Registry Editor" of the Windows system will open. On the left side of the window, follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci

3) Double click to open the parameter start and change the value to 0 (default value is " 3 » - AHCI is not supported):

4) That's all, close the registry and restart the computer.

5) During boot, go into the BIOS and enable AHCI support. How to do this can be found in the instruction manual for your motherboard. Save the settings and restart the computer.

After starting, Windows will install the AHCI driver itself and restart again. After restarting, the hard drives will work in the AHCI standard.