Sata questions

[Doogiehowser]

Hello, i think i may have done something wrong during my setup because my sata hdd isnt being recognized as a sata drive, but as IDE. My drive is a WD SE16 640AAKS. According to HD Tune 2.25, the active mode is "UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)", supported being "UDMA Mode 6 (Ultra ATA/133)" and the standard being "ATA/ATAPI-8 - Sata II". I have the basic know how between IDE and sata drives, being the speed most importantly.

My question is, is there a driver of some sort that i didnt/need to install? If so, will i have to do a fresh OS install or can i install it w/o loosing all my data, games, mods etc. any info will be appreciated.

[tuskenraider]

You likely have your SATA controller set to IDE mode instead of AHCI in the BIOS. Your drive will perform just fine in IDE mode. AHCI will give you some additional features like hot-swapping, NCQ and another thing or two I can't remember. AHCI requires drivers so you just can't change it after your OS is installed, you will BSOD all day. The are some tutorials on how to get the drivers installed and getting the OS to recognize the change of operation if you do a search.

[mercalf]

Is it just reading as an IDE device - or is it pulling speeds of an IDE device?

Also, what OS?

[biosboy4]

Every OS will probably freak out if you just up and change that setting out of nowhere, but most certainly, Windows will.

And it should just be reading as IDE, you shouldn't see a speed difference. I'm pretty sure the speed difference is all physical.

[gottcha]

If your running vista there is a way to change it without reinstalling. I don't know where it is right now i'll look for it after work.(or google ide to ahci mode) But unless you NEED hot swapping and the other specials that come with the sata Just leave it as IDE mode. YOU WILL not notice any difference.... Actually i think my drives go slower(not by very much)