BC_Programmer,

would making this change possibly render my computer inoperable, because something might also have to be done in device manager, or does the device manager have to be done first?  i suppose if it did, i could always reverse the change.  does anything have to be done in device manager, installing drivers, for instance?
what is the procedure for ENABLING these drivers and getting the most out of the sata hard drive?  right now i have it working good, and i don't want to mess it up.
thanks.
with my LAPTOP that came with Vista (and now has 7 on it as the main OS) the drive is SATA, as was the controller mode.

Therefore, when I reformatted it and started over with everything and installed XP 32-bit and 64-bit, I needed to change the mode to "compatible", otherwise XP would blue screen when I booted. Once I changed the option, I was able to boot and install the SATA drivers, reboot, turn the SATA mode back to AHCI and now they boot fine.

I have no idea what effect it would have changing from SATA mode to compatible mode, though. Basically, to switch from "compatible" to using SATA natively you need to appropriate windows XP SATA drivers. you can install them first, and then reboot and change the BIOS option. if it doesn't work you should be able to simply reboot and switch back to "compatible"... but don't hold me to anything if you try, I really have no idea.BC_Programmer,

i was unable to find any reference to the terms "AHCI" or "compatible" in the bios.  here's what the advanced tab>drive configuration has to offer:

use automatic mode---------enabled
ATA/IDE mode--------------enhanced
sata port 0--------ST3160023AS 160.0gb
sata port 1--------not installed
sata port 2--------not installed
sata port 3--------not installed
primary master--------TSSTcorpCD/DVD-W ATAPI
primary slave---------not installed


also on the boot tab:

boot tab>boot menu type-choice between "advanced" and "normal"


i looked over the drivers.  i have both saved with driver max and acquired at the official GATEWAY website.  none are specifically called sata.  here is a screenshot of the hdc folder created by driver max.  i would assume hdc stands for "hard drive controller"
i'll see if i can't also provide a secreenshot of the "system" folder. 



 

[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]here is a screenshot of the system folder.  if there are sata drivers here, they don't jump out at ya.  there didn't seem to be any other obvious place where sata drivers would be among my collection.
thanks BC_Programmer.

[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]There is no proof that emulation mode reduces PERFORMANCE that the user can measure in any typical single-user scenario.

(References bu request only.)