Hi all - am new to the forum, so any help or advice on how to approach the subject would also be helpful, in case I'm in the wrong category etc.... Have installed xp64 SP2 onto a Sata Drive. System consists of: Phenom II x940 Asrock K10N78 Full HD 3.0 AM2+ mobo 2 x Samsung Sata II HDs 1 x Samsung DVDrw (also Sata) 4Gb OCZ Ram DDR 2 Under device manager, IDE ATAPI controllers, the Primary and Secondary are showing IDE controllers, the actual drivers are Microsoft from 2002. I have disabled the IDE controller in the Bios as everything is on Sata, and enabled the onboard Sata controller. However, the drivers are still showing Primary IDE and Secondary IDE along with a Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE controller..... I can't help noticing that the system is freezing at certain points, and juttering occasionally, and something leads me to believe the missing Sata controllers have something to do with it. I've the latest chipset drivers (Geforce 8200) installed for the mobo. I did not install AHCI or RAID. nb. When I enable the IDE controller via the BIOS, there is no change, but there are now 2 lots of Primary IDE and Secondary channel instead. Can someone help out with what I may need to do here to get the correct drivers working for the Device Manager? nb 2. Drive speeds are good - tested via Sisoft Sandra Benchmark. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, IP.

When you installed the W XP64 did you boot to the CD and install the sata drivers with the F6 method? Windows XP will not/do not see the sata drives till the drivers are installed. Check that your BIOS settings are set correctly and should be set to SATA or native for the controller to be seen. Are the drivers you installed actually 64 bit technology or are you still installing the same 32 bit drivers for your hardware. Change Is Good http://www.citizenlink.org/Stopligh...

Thanks for the reply. When I installed, I didn't press F6 as the instructions for the mobo I'm using specifies that I should only use that method for RAID or AHCI. If installing normally, there's no need to. Bios settings are set to Sata (non raid or AHCI) and onboard Sata is enabled via the bios. All software and drivers are indeed for 64 bit XP. It's leaving me a bit stumped. I've read somewhere today re. IDE emulation on Sata drives, and am wondering if that is what is happening here.

The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a programming-specification which defines the operation of Serial ATA host-controllers. On some mobos a single sata connection can be enabled through the IEDE controller so that a SATA drive may be installed as legacy hardware. I think that this is your problem..as the drive shows up as an IEDE connection XP does not recognise the SATA controllers as it was created after the fact. Now some venders such as Dell and I believe Compac slipstreamed their operating installation discs with SATA controllers a while back but have since then quit doing it because of the ability to set up the single SATA connection from within the BIOS from an IEDE controller. If you wish to see the SATA controller and use fully the 3gb/s transfering then you will have to select the AHCI setting and do a repair installation inserting the drivers through the F6 method...you can not do this any other way or you will show the BSOD. Hope this helps Change Is Good http://www.citizenlink.org/Stopligh...

Thanks Lurkwithin for helping. I understand what you are saying, and if I was reading this I'd agree completely. HOWEVER :) things aren't always what they seem. I've just timed how long it takes to transfer a 3.02GB file from one Sata II drive to the other Sata II drive - I specify drives, not partitions; 32 secs. That to me would be SATA II speed. I know 300 mb/s is the theoretical speed for Sata II, so I did a benchmark on Sisoft Sandra Lite under Physical Discs. The drive index for my C drive Sata II disc was 83 mb/s, whilst the other Sata II drive came in at 94 mb/s. In the comparison graph, both results beat the closest reading within the Sisoft reference program: WD Sata 150, 3.5", 10 RPM, NCQ, 16mb Cache,x64 - 67.1 mb/s 2 x WD WD5000 500GB RAID 1, SATA 300, 7200 RPM, NCQ, 16mb cache, x64 - 60.339 mb/s Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 GB Sata 300, 7200 RPM, 16mb Cache, x64, 61.225 mb/s Hence, I feel that the speed is indeed there! I just can't understand how this is happening. Here is a link to my motherboard with spec sheet: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.a... Now interestingly, here is the spec sheet to my other PC which I am typing this on, and I use for general PC work: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.a... I installed XP 32 bit on this machine, also on a Sata II drive, and also without having to install any drivers with F6. However, on this machine, under the IDE/ATAPI settings in device manager, I see Nvidia NForce Serial ATA controllers...... Could it be a difference in the chipset on the latter machine being northbridge/southbridge (NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE / nForce 430), where as on the machine I am concerned about, there is only one chipset, the Nivdia Geforce 8200? Thanks for persevering by the way - I feel I'm going mad!