New User Question - Phoenix Pro, New Firmware, AHCI

[Savage1701]

I have used SSD's for a couple of years now. I realize all manufacturers have different ways of updating firmware, and I don't want to mess up my drive.

I want to take my Phoenix Pro 60GB up to the newest firmware, and my question is this:

If I undertand correctly, I must have the Phoenix Pro, OS, and BIOS in AHCI mode to use the Firmware update tool. My problem is this:

The Phoenix Pro was a replacement for a different brand of SSD that failed. I have Win 7 Pro 64-bit on it. I ghost my drive 2x a day, so a backup is not the issue. The orginal drive was installed as "SATA as Enhanced IDE" on an ICH10R chipset board as AHCI was NOT recommended for it (Samsung controller). AHCI was off, as, obviously, was RAID. The drive was correctly recognized by Win 7 and TRIM was functional. Alignment was correct.

Since the old SSD drive failed catastrophically, I took my ghost image from the night before and cloned it onto this new Phoenix drive. It works great, but I know my ATTO numbers are only at about 80% of what the SandForce controller can give me.

Due to needing this drive for business use, I'd rather not do a fresh intall of Win 7 with AHCI on to begin with. If at all possible, I need to use my backup image but with AHCI.

How do I safely activate AHCI in the registry? I assume I make the registry edit, shut the system down, power it up, enter BIOS, and then activate AHCI in there, and the save the change and reboot. Then, at the desktop, I run the G.Skill FW update tool. But, again, I am not sure how to activate AHCI safely to begin with on a system that is not a clean install.

Any help is appreciated, including just pointing me to the correct link for registry AHCI changes.

[vaca]

hi Savage1701,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...s-7-vista.html
This link shows the registry information you wonder.
What specific model is your motherboard?
you said that you install windows 7. i know a method could work if your motherborad has other SATA ports provided by other chipsets rather than its native intel ICH10R.
You can connect your phoenix in non-intel SATA port then set it as IDE and set ICH10R SATA port as AHCI in BIOS, save and reboot to windows.
Windows 7 would re-detect ICH10R as AHCI mode and you could install its AHCI driver here.
After this driver updated, you can connect SSD back to ICH10R SATA port then run as AHCI mode.

[Savage1701]

Thank you; I got it to work fine by doing the registry change, rebooting into BIOS, changing to AHCI, getting back to the desktop the new drivers installed for AHCI and I rebooted again.

All seems well in AHCI mode now so I will go ahead and try the FW upgrade.

I am using a DFI Lanparty UT series board. About a year old, socket 775, DDR2.

Thanks for your help.

Oh, yes, and my ATTO improved considerably once AHCI was enabled. My drive essentially is at what G.Skill says it will do under ATTO. Very nice. I will double-check to make sure TRIM is enabled.