upgrading from HDD to SSD on older computer

NavyLCDR said:

I've only ever had to delete the IDE controller in device manager. However, try following all of the steps here:
Enable AHCI in Windows 8 and Windows 10 after Installation | Windows 10 Tutorials

I did the registry changes and AHCI controller now showing in Device Manager. However I now have both IDE and SATA AHCI controllers. How to know which one the computer is using?

I also notice that all my HDD drives are shown as "Ejectable" in the eject hardware icon in RHS bottom task bar. Was not that way before. Does this mean the computer is in AHCI mode evidenced by drives being hot swappable? This is also different in my other computers ( all in AHCI ) where only usb connected devices are ejectable . No HDD or SSD drives shown .

sportflyer said:

I did the registry changes and AHCI controller now showing in Device Manager. However I now have both IDE and SATA AHCI controllers. How to know which one the computer is using?

I also notice that all my HDD drives are shown as "Ejectable" in the eject hardware icon in RHS bottom task bar. Was not that way before. Does this mean the computer is in AHCI mode evidenced by drives being hot swappable? This is also different in my other computers ( all in AHCI ) where only usb connected devices are ejectable . No HDD or SSD drives shown .

Delete the IDE controller entry in device manager. Then restart the computer and enter BIOS setup. On page 52 of the manual for your motherboard it states that there is an entry in BIOS under Integrated Peripherals to enable or disable the onboard IDE controller. Set that option to disabled. This is assuming you have no drives (such as CDROM or DVD) plugged into the IDE connector on the motherboard.

As far as the drives being marked as removable, see this:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...moveable-media

Tks for pointing to me how to disable on board IDE controller on page 52 of the manual. But I better check my DVD drive. Is there a way to check without opening the computer side panel and checking the connector to the DVD drive?

Apparently there is similar method that can remove the drives showing up as ejectable :

sportflyer said:

Is there a way to check without opening the computer side panel and checking the connector to the DVD drive?

In Device Manager, right click on the entry for the controller, properties, then details. In the Property scroll down box, select children. That should tell you what is connected to that controller.

NavyLCDR said:

In Device Manager, right click on the entry for the controller, properties, then details. In the Property scroll down box, select children. That should tell you what is connected to that controller.

You are a genius. I looked into children of IDE controller and saw 2 entries . I dont know what the entries refer to. See attachment below



Advise? Can it be be my Graphics Card? That connected directly to PCI not IDE . Tks

Those are only the two channels available on the IDE controller. Remember the old days when you would install two hard drives on the same IDE cable and they had jumpers for Master/Slave? Since no drives are listed there, you probably don't have anything connected to IDE.

Besides, delete the controller driver, restart into BIOS setup, disable the IDE controller. If your CDROM/DVD drive stops working, all you have to do is go back into BIOS and re-enable it.

If you check for "children" on your AHCI SATA controller entries you should see you physical drives listed there.

Here's mine:



The entries are in order:
Disk - Samsung EVO SSD
Disk - HDD
Disk - HDD
CDROM - DVD drive
CDROM - DVD drive

Done. Removed IDE controller as per your instructions. Yep I see that 4 drives are shown under children of Sata AHCI incl the DVD drive.
So all I need now is to add the registry word TreatAsInternalPort to remove the Drives from showing up in the "Remove hardware and Eject Media " icon. Hope that works as well .

Tks for all the support.

NavyLCDR , I happy to report that adding a new Dword "TreatAsInternalPort" in the registry as shown in my post #13 above works !

I just found out that my Gigabyte mobo only has SATA 2 . Is it still worth upgrading to SSD ? No one makes SATA 2 ssd these days so I will under utilizing the SATA 3 SSD. Perhaps I should get a budget SSD around the $50 price.