Can I change my HDD from IDE to AHCI after installing Windows?

[venkp24]

My ASUS P5Q Pro MB configures the SATA ports as IDE by default. I have a WD 320GB SATA2 HDD, and a DVD-RW drive connected to the SATA ports. Vista 64 bit is already loaded on the HDD (configured as IDE).

I changed the BIOS setting to AHCI. The BIOS recognizes the HDD and DVD-RW drives, but Vista won't boot.

Firstly, what is AHCI? And do I need it? Is there any performance benefit (or any other advantage) to AHCI, compared to IDE?

Is there any way to change from IDE to AHCI, after Vista is installed? I would like to avoid re-installing Vista if possible.

 

[DarkRogue]

AHCI is needed for some 'advanced' features native to SATA, such as hot-plugging and NCQ. Generally, I don't think there's a big performance boost switching over in a single-user environment. There should be ways to change over to AHCI, but I only know of guides for XP. Vista is supposed to have AHCI drivers installed, but I don't know if you have to set it to AHCI to begin with or not.

 

[Cutthroat]

You cannot change it after Windows is installed, trust me I've tried unsuccessfully. I have mine running in IDE mode and I can't tell any difference, the gains of NCQ are insignificant to a home user.

 

[DarkRogue]

How have you done it?
I found this guide online:
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=106575.0

It seems simple to do, but I'm not sure if it has a high success rate or not.

 

[venkp24]

DarkRogue, thanks for the link. But it's for Windows XP. If I could find a similar one for Vista, I might give it a try.

But my system's running fine in IDE mode, so I'm wondering if it's worth the effort.

 

[DarkRogue]

Unless you specifically need some of those features, it probably would not be worth the effort to switch over at this point. Just IMO of course.

 

[venkp24]

Thanks.