[b72077]

I would like to change my bios from native ide to ahci and get the full speed from my sata hard drive. It is slow and set as an older ata133. If I just change the bios setting then windows vista doesn't boot. I've read about changing a registry setting to allow windows vista to redetect hard drives. Not sure it will work and i don't really know about the registry. :4-dontkno

 

[twajetmech]

Hello and welcome to the TSF changing over from IDE to AHCI will cause the data currently on your hdd to be inaccessable and will require a reformat and installation of your OS, editing the reg in an attempt to get around this is bound to cause more issues than its worth (unstable system) the MS instructions can be found here....http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

 

[b72077]

Thanks for reply,
The article says that I 'should' change a registry setting, but be sure not to change the wrong one. Are you saying I should or shouldn't follow the article?

 

[twajetmech]

What I mean is that its better to put the drive in AHCI and reformat and reinstall the OS after backing up any data you don't want to loose. Following MS' instructions will work, but we tend to believe that it can cause the system to become unstable and that its more reliable to format and reinstall the OS

 

[b72077]

Would the following steps be safe idea? :

edit registry setting,
reboot
reboot change bios to ahci
try it out for a while
if unstable then
switch back to native
switch back registry setting
consider reinstall windows


note: my 250 gb has lots of files, hard to backup to an 80gb external hd. One partition only (my preference).

 

[b72077]

Does anyone know if changing registry hkeylocalmachine, system,currentcontrolset, services, adpahci, parameters, start = 4 to start =0 will be a problem to reverse? if it causes system problems after i reboot with sata bios on a faster setting. Trying to get the sata drive to run full speed and not at 133. windows won't let me if i change it without some fixing. ???????

 

[linderman]

I "believe" you will ALWAYS see a warning in those microsoft bulletins that require a registry modification which says "BACK-UP YOUR DATA BEFORE PROCEEDING" >>>>> thats a real warning !


I agree with TWA / I would clean install with ACHI active at reinstall

also you had better reconsider your current lack of data back-up ? you say you have data which would be disappointing to lose yet you have no way to redundantly back it up :4-thatsba

I would kill two birds with one stone >>>>> buy another 250 gig drive for about $70.00 and clean install windows on that new drive with ACHI active

or you can make the registry changes and just roll the dice ????

if you had enough drive space to hold an image file / I would say image your current OS so you could restore it in the event houston has a problem / but if the registry edit goes smoothly and doesnt conflict with anything; thats when you emitt he sigh of relief