Hi guys, just done building new rig for 1st time, but on bios i choose ide native mode to boot from an ide dvd drive, can i change this to AHCI after win 7 installation? reason why i ask is i dont want to do things on a slow IDE does this even make sense guys? sorry if it does'nt
man i used an ide dvd drive as system wasnt booting from external usb dvd drive, but im in the process of installing win 7 to my hdd which is a sata, can i change back to ahci after?
It's best to not change it after. They is a way to do it, but success rate isn't 100%, but seams to be more successful these days (with newer then before, SATA controllers on the market, or better drivers). You should be able to boot from a USB DVD drive no problem. 1- Be sure to use a USB 2.0 from the back of your system 2- Make sure that you have the setting that enable USB booting enabled. (it's somewhere in your BIOS) 3- When your system starts, the DVD drive needs to be already plug it with Windows 7 64-bit disk. At the POST screen, press the Key to go to the Boot Menu. From there you should see the DVD drive. In any case, the IDE plugs on your motherboard shouldn't be linked to the SATA controller. So, it should work while you have the SATA controller set to AHCI, without any problem. If that doesn't work, and you notice that the DVD drive dosn't read the disk at all, then it's broken. If it reads the disk and can't boot from Windows 7 64-bit disk (it ignores the disk), then the DVD drive is too old to read 64-bit instructions. A firmware upgrade is needed, or a new drive. If you have a spare computer running Vista 64-bit or Windows7 64-bit, and you have a 8GB USB memory key or more. Then there is a way. On that system, insert Windows 7 64-bit disk (don't run the setup, obviously). Use ImgBurn (free) (or anything that might be installed to do a an ISO of a disk), and do an ISO of the Windows 7 disk. Then get (free) Microsoft Windows ISO to USB tool here: http://wudt.codeplex.com/ (made by Microsoft Open Source community), install it. Once installed, insert or 8GB of more USB key, if not in already. Open the program and follow the couple of step wizard. The software will format the USB key (all current data will be permanently loss), then take the ISO, extract it on your USB key, and make your USB key bootable. (fan fact: this will be streamlined with Win8, based on Microosft Win8 blog) Now, go back to your system, insert the USB on the a USB 2.0 on the back of your computer, turn on the system, and enter the boot menu, and boot from it. If your USB 2.0 memory key is fast, like something in the range of 25MB/s + read, then expect the install process of Windows o be around 7min, instead of 25min via DVD.
wow thanks man, I've stopped prior installation and set most things to AHCI and so now im installing win 7 64 bit from a usb dvd drive external, it seems to be installing but its slow, maybe because i have it in usb 3 slot and it may not be compatible. thanks again
USB 2.0 is slow (and CPU intensive), and the drive itself is slow (especially if it doesn't use additional power), and probably it's a lack of USB 3.0 drivers. Your USB DVD drive is on USB 2.0, so even if you put it on USB 3.0... it won't go faster. That is why it would have been best if you had a SATA internal DVD drive, or use the USB memory stick technique above. In my case, I use the USB memory stick. I already have my Windows 7 64-bit ISO done on my HDD. I just plug my key, run the wizard that will format, extract the ISO, and make it bootable (all about 5-10min), and reboot the system, off I go re-installing Windows in 7min. I set my computer with 2 partitions. 100GB for Windows (well above it's needs, but I have a 1TB HDD, what do I care,plus there is plenty of room for: Windows update, program temp files, programs specific files, and service packs. And space to defrag. I keep my programs and files on my other partition. This way, if my Windows screw up for wtv reason, I don't need to backup my stuff, except AppData folder under my profile (contains all programs settings), and voila. Of course it's no substitute of an actual backup. It just make a Windows re-install easier.
