How do I change Windows XP to use AHCI disk mode rather than IDE mode for Dual boot?

I have a duaI boot Win 7/XP setup, Win 7 on an SSD, XP on a regular SATA drive, and another common SATA HDD for data.  ASUS M5A97 R2.0 motherboard, (AMD CPU).

I had everything working as IDE, including an SSD and finally decided to fix that.  It was easy to change with Win 7, but then XP would not boot. After some messing about I solved the problem as follows:

On both my ASUS/AMD systems you can configure the first 4 SATA ports as AHCI and the rest as IDE. 

1. Connect your XP system drive to one of the ports that can be set as IDE- the number varies.  On my board it is 5 & 6.
2. Go into the BIOS, set the first ports (e.g. 1-4) as AHCI and the rest as IDE.
3. Reboot and insert the motherboard driver disk (you may also need to plug the DVD drive into an IDE port), or alternatively download the installation program from the manufacturer.

4.  Boot into XP.  The AHCI drives will not be visible

5.  Reinstall the chipset drivers and reboot.  Check that all drives are visible (on a dual-boot system the Win 7 system partition  should not be visible, or XP may delete restore points, but that is another issue).

6 Once it is working, go back to the BIOS and set all SATA ports to AHCI.

Dave

Well, I finally decided to try AudioDoc's fallback position and simply reinstall XP... largely because I wanted to reclaim a lot of that drive for Win 8 data and programs.  Unfortunately, a bad floppy controller prevented me from creating that silly driver diskette!  So I had no choice but to reinstall with IDE mode, and do this all over again.  The good news is, I made notes this time.  So for anyone else out there, who has an AMD board and wants to convert XP to AHCI without reinstalling, here is the procedure that worked.  (Your own motherboard MAY have a better driver than the ones listed here,, check their website.  My other machine is running on an ASRock instead of an Asus, and their AHCI driver is called jmb36x.sys)

-- Copy driver files ahcix86.sys, amdsata.sys, amdxata.sys, amd_sata.sys and amd_xata.sys to system32\drivers.  These are all obtainable from AMD.  Also from them, download the Catalyst Install Manager packages for the southbridge chipset and for RAID

-- Go to Add New Hardware and Add a New Device, under "IDE/ATAPI Controllers", point it toward the second and third drivers.  This will give you an AMD SATA Controller, although it will be in "Native IDE Mode"

-- Run the Catalyst Install Manager twice, once with the southbridge drivers set ("13-1_xp32-64_sb.exe") and once with the raid set ("13-1_xp32-64_raid.exe")

-- Import this registry hack (saved as "ahcix86.reg"):

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_1002&cc_0106]

"Service"="ahcix86"

"ClassGUID"="{4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ahcix86]

"Type"=dword:00000001

"Start"=dword:00000000

"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001

"Tag"=dword:00000021

"ImagePath"="system32\drivers\ahcix86.sys"

"Group"="SCSI Miniport"

"DisplayName"="AMD AHCI Compatible SATA Controller"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ahcix86\Parameters\PnpInterface]

"5"=dword:00000001

-- Reboot, enter BIOS setup, set SATA mode to AHCI, and let Windows boot normally

Windows will find new hardware for you to install, called first simply "PCI device", then "SCSI Controller", then "AHCI Compatible RAID Controller".  This is the device that wants the ahcix86 driver, point it toward that and let it install.  It will ask for a reboot.

When Windows comes back up, you are in AHCI mode, although without Hot-Swapping capability.  But the BIOS can now be left alone, for dual-boot machines.

Hope this helps someone!

No problem Kelly,

Check back with 'Answers' any time you have a problem.

Tricky

I agree.  This was all because I just didn't want to re-install XP.  Eventually I may decide to do that, if I choose to keep XP to dual-boot into.  But until then, it was just frustrating not to be able to solve the dilemma, not totally.  Doesn't make me angry with Microsoft.  Look at the ground XP has broken, and how sturdy an OS it has been, for so long.  We can't expect it to be capable of dodging every future bullet imaginable... or saving us from our own stubbornness!

Hi Tricky,

Well, I wasn't saying I believed them, just the response I got from them. And yes, XP predates AHCI and the the hardware guys don't count on people like me making a silly mistake such as installing in IDE mode and then wanting to change midstream to AHCI. Ultimately it was my own fault -- just frustrating not being able to fix the mistake!  And, I must say, I really appreciate all your (and others in this thread) time and efforts in trying to help me. Thank you again!

Regards,

Kelly