The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    ssd installation questions

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by rutledj, Mar 7, 2013.

  1. rutledj

    rutledj Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    45
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have installed a samsung 840 250g ssd in my new inspiron 15r se. I did a clean install of win 7. I had to go into bios and disable uefi and set it to legacy boot mode. I tried setting it back after installing windows but when it boots I just get 'reading media'. Is it normal to have to leave that in legacy mode?

    Also, should the sata selection be left in achi or changed to intel rapid storage (whatever)?

    Thanks,
    Rut
     
    rutledj, Mar 7, 2013
    #1
  2. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    730
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I would set it to ACHI mode which is supposed to have better support for SSD drives.

    I have found that if you install a OS in say legacy mode and try to switch, the system will not boot properly or at all.

    You have to either re-install the OS in the new mode or keep it in legacy mode.
     
    dave-p, Mar 8, 2013
    #2
  3. rutledj

    rutledj Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    45
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    So maybe a better question is why I had to put it into legacy mode to begin with? Left in the uefi mode, it starts to load windows, gets to where it says "starting windows" with the little colored tiles floating around and then locks up. It never gets to where you install windows, pick a drive, etc.

    Also, does leaving it in legacy boot mode affect performance in any way?

    Thanks,
     
    rutledj, Mar 8, 2013
    #3
  4. knlmwq

    knlmwq Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    160
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would also like to know this as I had to switch to legacy mode in order to do a fresh install as well
     
    knlmwq, Mar 9, 2013
    #4
  5. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    730
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I would avoid using UEFI mode, use either AHCI, Raid, or if all else fails use ATA or legacy mode if your BIOS does not have AHCI or Raid.

    But AHCI is the mode of preference for a SSD drive (unless your planning on using them in a Raid array.

    AHCI supports the enhanced functions of a SSD drive, as does RAID.

    Is there a performance hit by using ATA or legacy mode, it is possible but I have not tested that myself.
     
    dave-p, Mar 9, 2013
    #5
  6. James D

    James D Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,314
    Messages:
    4,901
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I believe he is asking about UEFI vs Legacy BIOS modes. UEFI should startup laptop quicker on couple seconds.
     
    James D, Mar 9, 2013
    #6