Difference between SATA and ATA setup?

Question

Hi. I asked similar questions before but I didn't get an answer so I'm kind of reposting it, sorry.   Now I have 3 SATA drives without Raid setup.(I broke Raid 0) I have no desire to Raid the drives, so I am reinstalling XP.   My question is, if I set up Autodetect/ATA in BIOS instead of RAID ON, I could reinstall all 3 drives w/ no problem, however in this case, will my SATA drives run slow as IDE drives? I'm very confused w/ this SATA biz.   If there will be a speed difference because of the BIOS setup, I need to reinstall using F6/Floppy, right? If so, can anyone explain how to make a SATA driver floppy?   I have Dell XPS 410 w/ Windows Media Center and have Dell OS CD and a Resource CD.   Thank you in advance.

Jiehooni · Answer

Hmmm, I just read a FAQ about making a RAID Driver floppy. Now I just need to know if there is a speed difference by setting ATA and RAID ON.   Thank you.

davejohn · Answer

You shouldn't need to create a floppy.  The Dell OS disk has the necessary Raid drivers included.   There's no speed difference.   Dave

Uncle Ripper · Answer

Just curious, with the divers on the disk do you still need to hit f6 or do the drivers install automatically?

Davet50 · Answer

if reinstalling without going into a raid setup i don't believe you need to hit F6 it should just load up all necessary disk drivers...

Jiehooni · Answer

Thank you. That makes my life a lot easier...   I thought Autodetect/ATA mode makes SATA hard drive run as slow as ATA...   Thank you again...

Jiehooni · Answer

Thank you all.   I just reinstalled everything and working like a charm...and made a few TI backup images. Now I feel like I'm ready to use it...^^   Thanx, again.

gdwrnch3 · Answer

Ripper, If you use the Dell disk, with the deivers slipstreamed onto it, you won't need to use the f6 method.

davejohn · Answer

Even if you do set up a Raid array, you don't need to hit F6.  All necessary drivers are included on the Dell OS disk.   The only time you need to load the drivers from floppy is if you use a retail copy of Windows XP.   Dave

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