M4400 eSATA issue

Well I use the optical drive more than once in a while, so I'm not sure why I'd want to do that.

Btw, thanks for all the help John, you certainly have the most relevant and helpful answers around here

 

Okay, so I changed the setting to AHCI and IRRT, but Windows 7 would not finish booting up.

In parenthesis, BIOS states that changing this setting may require me to reinstall. Reinstall my OS? I just finished installing all of my programs this week and this means I'd have to install all of it all over again . . .

Are there any ways around this?

 

Does this mean that the access mode had been set to ATA?

Basically, Windows needs to find a different storage driver but, by default, only installs the one for the access mode being used at the time of installation. This thread describes how to get round a similar problem. I had hoped that Windows 7 would be clever enough to install the different SATA drivers. It is also possible that a repair option on the Windows 7 installation disc might fix the problem.

John

 

Yes it had been set to ATA.

I'll look into the guide, thanks!

 

OK.

I would create a system restore point and then follow the instructions on switching to AHCI. I think the W7 registry structure is very similar to Vista.

You don't actually remove the ATA support -Windows can handle having several different HDD access drivers installed. The Dell factory installation of XP (and presumably also Vista and W7) is pre-installed with the drivers for the 3 modes so that users can change the BIOS setting without killing Windows.

John

 

Do you think this would work for me?

http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/

Okay, so I followed the instructions above and it apparently worked up to the point that my laptop still doesn't recognize my eSATA drive

 

Hi

I dont want to hijack this thread!!... but i have had similar problem when i upgraded (no complete install) from Windows Vista Business 64bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

I have searched the internet and it seems the following problem i have is very common! But i dont know if there are any other M4400 users out there that have the same problem. When I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit from Vista Business 64bit i noticed its a lot faster but the only thing is when i try to copy and transfer big files of 2-4gigs (photos, films) it takes forever, writing at about 5-10 mb/s (sometimes 20 if im lucky!).

One hard drive is an external the other internal, SATA (internal) and FIrewire(ext). I had this problem with vista but it was cured by updating the ricoh Chipset driver and uninstalling Webroot Spysweeper. I have disconnected from antivirus and spyware programs but no luck?!

anyone out there that can lend a helping hand to a confused dell M4400 user?!
i have updated all drivers from dell support (intel matrix storage, SATA drivers etc...)and no luck again??? Dell support team are also mystified??!

cheers for any help in advance

ful

 

Actually read the post above yours and try that. Let us know how it goes.

 

Now you have enabled AHCI, what disk drives are listed if you press F12 at the initial BIOS boot (press F12 when the message pops up at the top right of the BIOS splash screen)?

If you see the external HDD listed then it means that the BIOS can see it, in which case can Device Manager and Computer Management see it? If yes, then you may need to format and partition it using Computer Management.

If the BIOS can't see the external HDD then the suspicion must fall on defective hardware or the cable. I mainly use one of these with 2.5" SATA HDDs but I also have some eSATA enclosures. None have caused me problems.

John

PS: Also see what happens if you remove the optical drive. There were ODD firmware updates issued a few months ago to improve Windows 7 compatibility.

 

I did what you said and the internal drive, CD drive, and the something else (card reader?) showed up. I'll try this change on my desktop to see if it really is either the eSATA cable or the drive itself.