Should I use ATA or AHCI mode?

If you have SATA drives, use AHCI. ATA runs the SATA controller in compatibility mode and loses the native features. The only OS you’ll probably have trouble with is XP. With XP, you’ll either need to hit the F6 key and provide a floppy with drivers, or slipstream the install.

Should I turn off AHCI?

Distinguished. Pinhedd : Yes, you should always set it to AHCI or RAID (which also enables AHCI) unless you are running Windows XP or earlier.

What is the best SATA operation?

If you are using a SATA hard drive, set your BIOS to RAID mode. RAID mode provides the greatest overall flexibility and upgradeability because it allows your system to be RAID ready and enable AHCI.

Should I enable smart in BIOS?

Yes enable it. It would enable logging of the harddisks when errors occurs, and monitors many statistics of the harddrive, such as temperature over time and errors that occur.

How do I enable AHCI in Windows 7 after installing?

1) Load Windows in your current configuration and run Registry Editor (regedit.exe). 2) Navigate to Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\lastorv (whichever exists). 3) Set the Start value to 0 (zero).

Which SATA mode should I use?

If you are installing a single SATA hard drive, it is best to use the lowest numbered port on the motherboard (SATA0 or SATA1). Then use the other ports for optical drives.

What happens if I disable AHCI?

If you disable AHCI (or switch to IDE etc), you likely won’t be able to boot to your OS.

What SATA mode should I use in BIOS?

If you do not wish to create or use a RAID array but would like to make use of the SATA controller’s AHCI features, you should set this BIOS feature to SATA or AHCI. This skips the loading of the SATA controller’s RAID functions, which speeds up the boot process.