installed SSD on dual boot system, AHCI very slow on Vista but good on Win 7

[Evander]

When I say slow, I mean it takes forever to boot and the system acts very slow and seems to to hang often but there will be brief moments when it seems to work OK. Task manager shows RAM and CPU usage to not be an issue at all. That's Vista 32-bit, Win 7 64-bit has no troubles.

Both installs were using IDE mode in the BIOS previously. After switching to AHCI mode, neither OS would boot but both were bootable after applying Microsoft's downloadable fix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

Don't go out of your way to try to come up with a solution for Vista here (rarely gets used anyway and I'm content to continue using IDE mode, and If I wanted I could enable AHCI and switch back to IDE only when booting Vista), but if you've got a quick fix or suggestion then I'm game.

 

[Bubbaleone]

That's the standard reg hack to switch modes, which is the first step, and now you need to install the latest Intel chipset driver and AHCI storage drivers. Install these on both systems.

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[phasseshifter]

check if you don’t use the on-board Ethernet ..that it is disabled.....many over look this fact ..many peops just use usb input for their..net i am not saying that i am correct but something that will slow start up down ..also in start up disable unnecessary programs like adobe and such ..but i do agree with Mr B.....

 

[Evander]

That's the standard reg hack to switch modes, which is the first step, and now you need to install the latest Intel chipset driver and AHCI storage drivers. Install these on both systems.

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I'm not sure where to find / if there are updated drivers. This is my mobo:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01093059&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
Chipset
Intel G33 Express
Motherboard
Manufacturer: Asus
Motherboard Name: IPIBL-LA

I looked here:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/graphics/g33
and also tried this utility:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect
and I'm not see seeing anything I should be downloading. I rarely manually install mobo chipset drivers and can't remember the last time I had to do so so maybe that's why I'm not sure what/where to download

 

[Bubbaleone]

I'm not sure where to find / if there are updated drivers. This is my mobo:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01093059&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
Chipset
Intel G33 Express
Motherboard
Manufacturer: Asus
Motherboard Name: IPIBL-LA

I looked here:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/graphics/g33
and also tried this utility:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect
and I'm not see seeing anything I should be downloading. I rarely manually install mobo chipset drivers and can't remember the last time I had to do so so maybe that's why I'm not sure what/where to download

OK, here's the link for your drivers on the HP support page: HP Pavilion a6177c Desktop PC Drivers. HP is pretty good about updating there drivers. Get everything updated there first, and then check-in back here.

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[Evander]

For Windows 7 there weren't any drivers listed, for Vista there's this page:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3462614#N4053
there's this:
"Summer 2007 Original Intel Chipset Driver" (not really an updated driver)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3462614#N4053
and possibly this:
"Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver Update" (don't know what this is to be honest)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...dlc=en&lc=en&os=2093&product=3462614&sw_lang=

Before posting I did try to do some searching, one thing mentioned was some people thought it would be a good idea to install "Intel RST" drivers". I didn't really understand what they were (and don't know what RAID is exactly) so decided not to dive into unknown waters. Is this something I can / should try to install?
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-700708/intel-rapid-storage-technology-software.html
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-020644.htm
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-020784.htm
"Intel Rapid Storage Technology provides benefits to users of single drives as well. Through AHCI, storage performance is improved with Native Command Queuing (NCQ). AHCI also delivers longer battery life with Link Power Management (LPM), which can reduce the power consumption of the chipset and Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive."

 

[Bubbaleone]

For Windows 7 there weren't any drivers listed, for Vista there's this page:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3462614#N4053
there's this:
"Summer 2007 Original Intel Chipset Driver" (not really an updated driver)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3462614#N4053
and possibly this:
"Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver Update" (don't know what this is to be honest)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...dlc=en&lc=en&os=2093&product=3462614&sw_lang=

Before posting I did try to do some searching, one thing mentioned was some people thought it would be a good idea to install "Intel RST" drivers". I didn't really understand what they were (and don't know what RAID is exactly) so decided not to dive into unknown waters. Is this something I can / should try to install?
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-700708/intel-rapid-storage-technology-software.html
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-020644.htm
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-020784.htm
"Intel Rapid Storage Technology provides benefits to users of single drives as well. Through AHCI, storage performance is improved with Native Command Queuing (NCQ). AHCI also delivers longer battery life with Link Power Management (LPM), which can reduce the power consumption of the chipset and Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive."

I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong. If you only performed the MS reg hack that you linked to in your OP, without performing the rest of the steps, it won't work. MS needs to proofread their guides a bit better. This is the exact procedure for switching storage modes in Vista and 7.

1. Open regedit as admin.
2. Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV

(Either or both subkeys may be present on systems running Intel SATA/AHCI drivers. IastorV is Intel but change whichever subkey is present.)

3. Click on msahci, then in the right pane double-click the value Start.
4. Change the value data to 0, then click OK.
5. Close regedit, restart the computer and immediately enter BIOS/UEFI setup utility.
6. Locate the SATA storage controller section and change the storage mode from IDE to AHCI.
7. Save the changes and exit BIOS/UEFI to reboot.

Note: If you fail to immediately enter BIOS/UEFI setup and change storage modes, after editing the registry, when Windows boots to the desktop the registry will revert to IDE and you'll have to repeat this procedure from the beginning. Also, be sure that you are updating all 32-bit Vista storage drivers and all 64-bit Windows 7 storage drivers, for performance sake.

Edit: The latest IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) drivers are what you want to run on both systems. Just be sure to iinstall the latest Intel chipset driver on each system first.

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