Open an elevated command prompt (type CMD on Windows 8 Start screen, right-click the Command Prompt app and click Run as administrator from the menu (Figure) ) and type the following command bcdedit /set safeboot. You should take note however: If you already have Windows 8 installed and want to change your SATA mode from IDE mode to AHCI mode, you'll have to follow a simple procedure otherwise your system will refuse to start Windows.įirst we'll have to set Windows 8 to boot into Safe Mode. Specifically the 'native command queuing' will give SSD drives a performance boost. AHCI exposes SATA's advanced capabilities - such as hot swapping and native command queuing (NCQ) - such that host systems can utilize them. To improve performance, make sure that your hard drive SATA mode is set to AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) in your system's BIOS. There are just a few things you have to check, the most important one is if your SATA controller is running in IDE or AHCI mode. Microsoft got most things right with Windows 8 and Solid State Drive's (SSD drives have been around for a few years now).
