Solved Cannot get AHCI mode to work after cloning HDD to SSD

Albourneboy

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Location
Darlington
A couple of weeks ago, I cloned my HDD C drive to a new 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD.

After fitting the SSD in place of the old HDD, the system rebooted fine and worked well with a very noticeable increase in the speed at which Windows loaded.

However, Samsung's "Magician" software informed me that the drive was running in SATA mode and that better performance would be obtained by switching the Storage Configuration parameter to AHCI mode in the BIOS on my ASUS P7P55D Pro motherboard.

So, I tried this but Windows would not load. I didn't get a BSOD as such... I'd get the Windows 8 start-up logo with the spinning dots below for a while, then the screen would go blank, then a message would flash briefly on the screen saying something along the lines of "Windows has experienced a problem and was unable to start so your computer is being restarted" (not exact words as it's not on screen long enough for me to read) and my computer reboots. This startup/error/reboot loop is repeated until I enter the BIOS and switch Storage Configuration back to IDE whereupon all is back to normal.

Further research then revealed that I needed to tweak the registry so I did this but I still get the startup/error/reboot loop.

Next I tried booting into SAFE mode as described in this thread. It'll boot fine if I leave Storage Configuration set to IDE but not if I change it to AHCI. It just goes back to the same old startup/error/reboot loop and Windows makes no attempt to install any new drivers.

I know I could do a clean install of Windows but I don't really want to go down that route if I can possibly avoid it.

I strongly suspect that the motherboard's Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series SATA AHCI/RAID Controller does not have the right driver installed that would enable AHCI mode to work. Is there a way that I can force installation of an updated driver? Is there such a thing (device manager tells me the latest driver is installed)?

I can live with IDE mode as the computer boots considerably faster from the SSD and programs load much quicker too but not being able to use AHCI mode is bugging me so any suggestions would be very welcome.

Many thanks


 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
Try this :
1. Startup "Regedit With Administrator rights
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services
3. Open msahci
4. In the right field left click on "start" and go to Modify
5. In the value Data field enter "0" and click "ok"
6. exit "Regedit"
7. Reboot Rig and enter BIOS (hold "Delete" key while Booting

In your BIOS select "Integrated Peripherals" and OnChip PATA/SATA Devices. Now change SATA Mode to AHCI from IDE.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Try this :
1. Startup "Regedit With Administrator rights
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services
3. Open msahci
4. In the right field left click on "start" and go to Modify
5. In the value Data field enter "0" and click "ok"
6. exit "Regedit"
7. Reboot Rig and enter BIOS (hold "Delete" key while Booting

In your BIOS select "Integrated Peripherals" and OnChip PATA/SATA Devices. Now change SATA Mode to AHCI from IDE.

Windows 8 doesn't use msahci driver anymore. Now they use storahci.

To OP: Do what CountMike said, but change msahci to storahci. Then go to HKLM/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/storahci/StartOverride, look for the DWORD with a name of "0" and value of 3. Change it to 0.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Y520
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 7300HQ
    Motherboard
    OEM Lenovo
    Memory
    4GB DDR4-2400
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 (2)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 1TB 5400 RPM
    Keyboard
    OEM Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 Proteus Core
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Other Info
    PC:

    AMD Athlon X4 760K
    8GB DDR3-1866
    AMD Radeon RX 460
    Seagate 500 GB 7200 RPM
Hi CountMike
Thanks for the reply but I'm pretty sure that your regedit suggestion is one of the registry I've already made (though I will double check tonight).

Sadly, your other suggestion isn't valid for the ASUS P7P55D - there is no 'Integrated Peripherals' parameter in its BIOS.

It has a JMicron eSATA/PATA controller to enable connection of an external SATA drive but I've plugged my DVD drive into it so it'll have to stay at the IDE setting. The internal SATA ports are controlled by the P55 express chipset.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox

Windows 8 doesn't use msahci driver anymore. Now they use storahci.

To OP: Do what CountMike said, but change msahci to storahci. Then go to HKLM/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/storahci/StartOverride, look for the DWORD with a name of "0" and value of 3. Change it to 0.

I've done all that to no avail - it makes no difference at all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Yep, used msconfig to enter safe mode but with the bios set to AHCI, windows just won't start. It gets so far then flashes up the message I mentioned in the OP, then reboots my computer. The only way I can get Windows to boot completely into safe mode is to set the BIOS back to IDE. The registry changes have made no difference at all - my computer runs happily in 'IDE mode' with the so-called AHCI changes applied.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
Since Windows 8 should have no problem booting into SAFE mode in this situation, perhaps something else is happening. Could you use the snipping tool to take a picture of your Disk Management window and attach using the paperclip on the advanced replies?

Are you running any special software that might interfere with the operation?

How did you "Clone" the SSD?

The computer you have is not that old, so I would assume Windows 8 has a compatible driver for it. I have a P6T I might try to see if Windows 8 can handle it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
I'll do that Saltgrass but it'll have to wait until I get home. At the moment, I'm on my work computer.

I'm not aware of any special software that might be running.

I cloned the SSD using Samsung's Data-Migration software that came with the SSD. Didn't have any problems with that. My Windows installation started off as Windows 7 installed on a SATA drive in (out of ignorance) IDE mode. I upgraded to Windows 8 late last year and everything has been running happily ever since. It still does unless I try to activate AHCI mode :confused:.

A thought has just occurred. I also installed Samsung's 'Magician' software. This used to ask permission to run every time Windows started so I used to say OK. Then I discovered that allowing it to run on startup caused Metro last light to fail to run. When I refused Magician permission to run, Metro Last Light was OK so I removed Magician from my startup folder. I'm wondering now if it might be worth uninstalling it altogether to see if Windows will then boot in SAFE mode with AHCI enabled in the BIOS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
I just did an install on my P6T, way older than your system, and it allowed the changing of the controller using the reference procedure just fine.

So I would have to think you situation might involve something more than just the controller. I did not do the test with an SSD. I might try later but I am not really sure how the older systems might deal with it.

Edit: I just installed on an SSD as IDE and changed it also. The Device Manager looked a little different afterward than it did with the HD but only yellow marked items were there and could be uninstalled.

I can't get to your original post right now, but I run my SATA DVD on the Primary SATA controller as well as the Hard Drives. I think I saw you had put yours on the additional controller, but some of those are not supposed to be used with an Optical Drive.

You might end up going back and trying to change the controller on your old hard drive, if it is SATA and then redo the SSD. Of course it is always better, if you can, to do a clean install to a new drive.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
I've attached a view of my controllers in device manager. As you can see, no mention of AHCI

The driver dates back to 2009

There's also a view from Disk manager

Ah ha - pasting screenshots in didn't work :(

Not quite sure what I'm doing here - hope you can see the attahments OK
 

Attachments

  • Disk management.jpg
    Disk management.jpg
    75.3 KB · Views: 129
  • Device Manager.jpg
    Device Manager.jpg
    75.6 KB · Views: 163
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
Sorry, but I edited my previous post. Nothing is showing up for the references you state. Did you upload the files after you selected them?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Can you see the screenshots now?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
Yes, I can see them. The SSD looks OK, but you do have several other Active Partitions on your system. The extra active partitions may not be causing the current situation, but using Diskpart to remove the active status might keep problems from occurring later.

When drive manipulation has been done, sometimes the labels on the partition might look a little different than you would expect. The Fact the System partition on the SSD shows as DATA and not System Reserved is one of those instances. I think I would remove the other drives, at least the old install HD and see if anything changes. You may need to end up checking the attributes on the System (Data) partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
The partition thing's a bit wierd. The old C drive (now D and F) wasn't partioned when I cloned it so I've no idea why it (and the SDD) are partioned now.

When I first tried to switch to AHCI mode, the SSD was the only drive installed and I got exactly the same issue as I'm getting now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
Finally bit the bullet and re-installed Windows. Followed the tutorial from this forum and the whole procedure took less than an hour and was completely painless. The tutorial also explained where the partions came from and why so that's that mystery solved :).

Set the BIOS to AHCI mode, booted from my Windows 8 DVD, formatted my SSD (removing the partions to alow Windows to re-create them!) and installed Windows 8 Pro on it. Will probably have to spend the weekend installing all the Win 8 updates dating back to last November now :D before I install the 8.1 upgrade. Then will have to re-install all my software and use Windows Transfer to get all my files and settings back but should be back to normal by Sunday I hope provided SWMBO doesn't decide there are better things I need to be doing with my weekend ;).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self assembled
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 760 2.8 Ghz socket 1156
    Motherboard
    Asus P7P55D Pro
    Memory
    8 Gb (2 x Kingston HyperX 4 Gb 1600MHz DDR3-SDRAM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL U2410
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
    Western Digital 300GB IDE HDD
    PSU
    Corsair 750W
    Case
    CoolerMaster
    Cooling
    Loads!
    Keyboard
    Roccat Isku gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9X gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    13Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
I was going to mention changing to AHCI before you installed windows 8 but it looks like you figured that out.

Going to 8.1 using the upgrade option was seamless for me, I didn't have to reinstall a single program but that may not always be the case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    Q9650 @ 4.05 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gforce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    8GB Gskill DDR2 1200Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX-480
    Sound Card
    Asus D2 Xonar
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HannsG
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Gskill 120GB SSD
    PSU
    Thermal Take 1000watts
    Case
    Thermal Take Xtreme
    Cooling
    9 fans air cooled
    Keyboard
    G15 logitech
    Mouse
    G9 logitech
    Internet Speed
    50mbps
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