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How to check if ahci mode is enabled. Enable or disable AHCI mode in Windows

At one time, hard drive developers were looking for various ways to improve the performance of the disk subsystem, which remained relatively slow from year to year, and progress in the storage environment consisted mainly of increasing HDD capacity. Gradually, the SATA standard and corresponding versions of this interface appeared, which brought some new technologies.

In fact, there are only two common technologies - “Hot Plug”, that is, hot-swappable drive and “NCQ” (Native Command Queuing), a native (innate) command queue. The first technology is quite simple, it allows you to simply remove drives “on the fly” without turning off the computer, although for this you still need to use their software shutdown. NCQ was able to add speed to hard drives, and even more so, it will be able to do this with SSDs, which cope well with “deep queues”.

These, as well as some other options, will work if the drive controller is set to SATA AHCI mode. In turn, AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is an advanced controller operating system that is only available in this (AHCI) operating mode.

The good news is that all modern platforms support the AHCI mode of operation of the internal SATA controller, and it can be easily selected in the settings of the main EFI or BIOS shell.

The bad news: if the operating system was installed in normal "IDE" controller mode, it will not boot and will freeze after selecting AHCI and attempting to start. That is, you may need to reinstall the operating system. Moreover, to install Windows XP (which, however, is not recommended when using an SSD), you will need to have AHCI drivers in advance, otherwise the OS will simply be impossible to install.

Important: You can enable AHCI support on Windows 7 without reinstalling the OS. To do this, before switching the controller to AHCI mode, you need to go to the registry editor.

Editing a registry setting.

  • Call the command line (ALT + R) and write “regedit”, of course, without quotes;
  • Find the registry key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci »;
  • Find the “Start” option and double-click on it. In the "value" field, enter "0". That's it, the system can be restarted and set to AHCI mode.

So does it make sense to use the AHCI mode of the SATA controller? There is definitely a point. Let's take a quick look at the benefits again:

  • Support for hot-swap drives;
  • Overall productivity increase from NCQ technology;
  • Operation at maximum speeds (relevant when using a controller and SSD SATA-600);
  • Support for additional commands, such as TRIM.

Yes, the TRIM command will only work on the operating system installed on the drive running in AHCI controller mode. You can learn about the importance and usefulness of this command. So there is no reason to use the controller's standard IDE compatibility mode.


Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) technology is a standard proposed by Intel that allows you to increase the read/write speed for hard drives connected to a computer via the SATA interface. If your computer has a modern hard drive (for example, an ssd or a regular sata hdd), and the motherboard supports AHCI mode, you may have wondered how you can increase the performance of your PC.

Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 operating systems already have built-in support for the AHCI standard, so if during installation Windows detects that the computer supports AHCI, the AHCI driver will be installed automatically. Windows XP does not have built-in support for this standard, but it is possible to make them friends; look for material on this topic separately. In older motherboard models that have AHCI support at the chipset level, AHCI mode is disabled at the BIOS level. But what to do in a situation where the Windows 7 operating system is already installed? I think many who have encountered this problem know that by changing the IDE mode to AHCI in the BIOS, Windows simply will not start. And you will most likely get a BSOD (blue screen of death). The option that suggests itself is to change the BIOS mode from IDE to AHCI, then reinstall Windows. BUT! In this case, you lose all the data on the C drive, which can be painful if you have many applications installed there and valuable information stored there. Below is a way to switch to AHCI mode without reinstalling the system and losing data on Windows 7. For users. Remember, you perform all actions at your own peril and risk, and no one except you is responsible for them.

Attention! The following sequence of actions must be performed BEFORE enabling AHCI mode in the BIOS settings. Otherwise the system will stop booting!

1. Press the Win+R key combination and in the window that opens, type the command regedit to open Registry Editor. For those who find this difficult, you can type regedit directly in the Start menu bar.

2. When asked “Do you want to allow the following program to make changes on this computer?” We answer “Yes.”
3. In the registry editor, go to the desired branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci
4. In the right pane, find the option Start and edit it ( Change)


5. Set the parameter “ Start" meaning 0 , and press OK. Default value (AHCI support disabled): 3 .

6. Close Registry Editor.
7. Restart your computer.
8. While the computer is restarting, go to the Bios menu and enable AHCI support. Press the F10 key, save your changes and restart your computer again.
9. After downloading, Windows 7 will automatically install AHCI device drivers. After installation is complete, Windows will reboot one more time. 10. That's all! After loading Windows, the hard drives will support the AHCI standard and therefore work faster. Visual increase in productivity is a very subjective point! Yes, your computer will become faster, but besides the hard drive, there are many other things in your computer that can slow it down, so it is possible that you will not see a clear increase in speed.

That's all. Thank you for reading the article. I hope it was useful to you.

Enabling AHCI mode allows you to achieve maximum drive speed. This instruction explains in detail how to do this.

Which is better AHCI or IDE

The drives inside your computer have several modes in which they can operate. These are AHCI and IDE. Using SATA AHCI has a number of advantages over SATA IDE ( Integrated Drive Electronics), so you might be wondering how to enable SATA AHCI in Windows 10.

AHCI(read as " Hey-h-si-ah") is an abbreviation for " Advanced Host Controller Interface" This term refers to the mechanism that is used to connect your SSD or HDD to the motherboard via a Serial ATA (SATA) cable. AHCI is better than IDE in that you can use all the capabilities of your drives, as well as gain access to additional features such as built-in command queuing (NCQ - “ NativeCommendQueing” ), DIPM(" DeviceInitiatedPowerManagement” ) and hot swappable drive. For the end user who is not particularly versed in the terms NCQ, DIPM, and so on, it is only important to know that enabling AHCI will allow you to use the maximum speeds that the connected drive is capable of in principle.

In addition, AHCI is better used in laptops, since this mode has a positive effect on the power consumption of the media. You may not notice a significant increase in lifetime from a single charge, but the disk will still consume less computer power.

Important: This instruction must be executed from an account that has Administrator rights. If you do not have one, you will need an administrator password to gain access to certain sections of the system. In this case, we recommend that you read the article that tells.

Warning: Proceed at your own risk. Transferring drives from IDE to AHCI mode in an already installed system in theory(if you did something wrong) can lead to Windows not starting at all and crashing into a bootlap (loading, crashing, loading, crashing). Proceed only if you know how to return everything back or reinstall the system. We personally checked on their computers and convinced themselves of its functionality. If you do everything slowly and carefully, nothing will happen to your computer, but just in case, let us remind you that only you are responsible for your hardware.

Although in this guide we describe the procedure for enabling SATA AHCI in Windows 10, the same steps will be relevant for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

To check what mode your drives are running in, click Win + X and select device Manager. Expand item IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers. Check the name of the controllers.

On this computer the drive is running in IDE mode.

And now in SATA AHCI mode.

How to switch from IDE to AHCI

It is best to activate AHCI mode in the BIOS itself before installing the operating system. The safest option. If there is no opportunity or desire to reinstall the system again, then simply follow the instructions described below. They will tell you three methods to enable AHCI on your computer.

All three methods consist of two parts: changing settings in the OS itself and changing settings in the BIOS. If you do only one of these parts, the system most likely will not start at all and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to start it will go into automatic recovery mode.

How to enable SATA AHCI by editing the registry

Warning: Do not blindly change or delete registry keys that are unknown to you. This practice can lead to serious problems with the operating system. If you are not confident in your abilities and you have no experience, we recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the concept of “”, and also study the article about. They can be useful in case of unforeseen consequences. If you don’t want to go into the Windows registry jungle at all, use the third method, which will tell you how to enable AHCI through the Command Line and Safe Mode.

  1. Click Win+ R and enter regedit. This will launch the system's built-in registry editor.
  2. In the address bar (at the top of the window under the menu), enter the path Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci.
  3. In the left part of the window in the subfolder tree, select the folder StartOverride, right-click on it and select Delete. Confirm deletion.
  4. Now open Notepad ( Win+ R – notepad) and paste the following text into it: regdelete"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\"/vStartOverride/f
  5. Save the file you created somewhere. On the save window from the drop-down menu File type select All files and name it AHCI.bat. This way you will create a “batch file” with the required command inside.
  6. Find the file you just created, right-click on it and select Run as Administrator.
  7. A Command Prompt window will open, where you need to press the English letter Y. After this, the command prompt will automatically close.
  8. The next part is setting up the BIOS itself. Restart your computer and go into BIOS/UEFI.
  9. Now you need to find the section responsible for the operating mode of the hard drive controllers. Since we do not have the opportunity to take screenshots from all existing BIOSes, we will give an example of a UEFI Gigabyte motherboard. Your BIOS most likely looks different, but the essence is the same. We need to find a point SATAMODE / OnChipSATA or something like that. If you don't want to search blindly (which we don't recommend, in order to avoid changing the wrong parameters), consult your motherboard's user manual. Just in case, keep on hand an article that talks about.
  10. When you have found the appropriate SATA mode setting item in the BIOS, set it to ACHIMode or simply AHCI.
  11. Save the settings and restart your computer. It is likely that after turning on the system, a window will appear with the installation of AHCI drivers, after which the computer will ask to reboot. Do what he asks you to do. After turning on the system, go to Device Manager and check if the AHCI controller appears in the list.

Another way to enable AHCI is through the Registry Editor

If the first method didn't work (unlikely, but still), try the second option.

In order to get a fast computer, sometimes it is not enough to simply buy a solid-state SSD drive and install the system on it. In some cases, additional fine-tuning of the operating system and computer BIOS is required. One of these tweaks is the inclusion of AHCI mode, which is necessary for the correct operation of some functions.
What is AHCI mode? Advanced Host Controller Interface is a special technology that is used in the Serial ATA protocol through which the PC hard drive is connected. It allows you to use certain advanced functions that are essential for the correct and fast operation of solid-state drives. For example, NCQ (Native Command Queuing), which makes it work much faster.
How to switch the controller to AHCI mode?! The current operating mode of the SATA controller is changed in the Basic I/O System parameters. To do this, you need to go into the BIOS or UEFI when you boot your computer. Depending on the system version, the SATA controller configuration parameters in the BIOS may be located in the “Integrated Periferals” section:

Or in the “Main”>>”Storage Configuration” section.

In UEFI BIOS everything is almost the same. You need to find the SATA Controller configuration section either in the main settings:

Or in extended mode - “Advanced Mode”.

Among the three available modes you must choose AHCI mode. All that remains is to save the configuration settings and restart your computer or laptop.

Enabling AHCI on Windows 10

If you want to change the operating mode of the controller on an already installed Windows operating system, then you also need to set a couple of parameters in it. To do this, you need to call the Windows Registry Editor and open the branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci
In it you need to double-click on the parameter Start to open its properties for modification:

Set the parameter to “0” and click on the OK button.
Next, open the thread:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorV
There should also be a parameter here Start:

It also needs to be set to “0”.
Close the registry editor and restart your computer or laptop so that the AHCI mode works.

Note: If you are still using the old Windows 7, then enabling AHCI is not done in the registry branch “msahci” instead of “storahci”. Otherwise, everything is exactly the same.

Read, how to determine in what mode the computer controller is operating. And, how to activate the AHCI mode of the SATA interface on a computer with Windows already installed. Many people will reasonably ask: why do we need IDE mode for a SATA drive, if the AHCI mode is its “native” mode and is the one in which the SATA drive will operate adequately for its characteristics and purpose. Moreover, many motherboard manufacturers set their PATA compatibility mode to IDE by default.

  • The SATA interface can operate in two modes, IDE and AHCI:

    • IDE is a compatibility mode for older hardware and software. Essentially, the capabilities of SATA in this mode are no different from those of its predecessor, the ATA (or PATA) interface;
    • AHCI is a new mode of working with storage devices in which the computer uses all the advantages of SATA, the main ones being: higher speed of hard drives and SSDs (Native Command Queuing or NCQ technology), as well as the ability to hot-swap hard drives. Activating AHCI mode helps speed up access to files stored on storage devices and has a positive effect on the overall performance of the computer.

    Many people will reasonably ask: why do we need IDE mode for a SATA drive, if the AHCI mode is its “native” mode and is the one in which the SATA drive will operate adequately for its characteristics and purpose. Moreover, many motherboard manufacturers set their PATA compatibility mode to IDE by default.

    The thing is that operating systems began to support the controller in AHCI mode starting with Vista. That is, if a disk with Windows XP is connected to a system whose controller operates in AHCI mode, the user will receive a BSOD error (“blue screen of death”). And on the other hand, any SATA drive can freely operate in IDE mode. Moreover, many users, not knowing about it, will not even feel any difference. In this way, computer manufacturers are trying to avoid possible problems with the compatibility of the computer and user software.

    Another important difference between IDE and AHCI concerns how they work with SSD drives. Please note that it is not possible to install an operating system in IDE mode on an SSD; this will require AHCI activation.

    How to determine in what mode the computer controller is operating?

    It is likely that AHCI mode is already activated on your computer. You can check this in several ways:

    Method 1

    • Go to
    • Open section “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers”
    • If there is a device in this section with the word “AHCI” in the name, as in our case, then the AHCI mode on the computer is already in use.

    Method 2


    Please note that in the BIOS of some computers there is no option to change the mode to AHCI. In this case, the problem can sometimes be solved by updating (flashing) the BIOS version.

    How to activate the AHCI mode of the SATA interface on a computer with Windows already installed?

    There are several ways to activate the AHCI mode of the SATA interface on a computer with Windows already installed, while maintaining its functionality:

    FIRST:


    If for some reason the first method did not work, also pay attention to second option. But first, if you are having errors when starting Windows in AHCI mode, return to IDE mode and turn on your computer.


    After that:


    As you can see, the described actions in theory can lead to undesirable consequences, such as the inability to start the operating system. Therefore, take them on only if you know why you are doing it, can access the BIOS or UEFI, and are ready to correct unforeseen consequences if something happens. For example, by reinstalling Windows from the beginning in AHCI mode.