Switching from RAID to ACHI?

Some systems will have the Windows operating system installed using RAID drivers including the Intel Rapid Storage Technology. SSD drives typically perform better using AHCI drivers.  There is in fact a way to switch operation from either IDE / RAID to AHCI within Windows 10 without having to reinstall.  Here are the steps:

1. Click the Start Button and type cmd
2. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator
3. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)
4. Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup
5. Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID
6. Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
7. Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).
8. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)
9. Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

I had seen basically the same answer on another site, but being an admitted command line dummy, I figured I'd try here. Is that syntax exactly how it should go? Nothing specific to my computer that would replace whats in brackets, parenthesis, etc?

This came from Dell with that RAID on setting, with only one SSD, why would it be set that way?

Thank you!

It is simpler for Dell to install the software image on a base of different models all using the same RAID driver than it is on a base of models with different makes and models of SSD.

While it IS possible to switch from RAID to AHCI, make absolutely sure you have a full system backup that's been verified before you try.  Things can and do go wrong.

Then see

https://superuser.com/questions/1280141/switch-raid-to-ahci-without-reinstalling-windows-10

This does not require using the command line at all.

Ok, right outta the gate, I get this:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)
Invalid command line switch: /set
Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance.
The parameter is incorrect.

Would this be installing the right driver before changing from RAID to AHCI?

My current storage controller driver shows as Intel Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium controller.

What driver would I need?

Or, from reading other posts regarding RAID vs AHCI, it seems that I can make the change in the BIOS settings, boot in safe mode (hold shift key while booting, etc.) windows should load driver, then reboot normally?

I could always change BIOS settings back, right? Nothing in all this will render computer un-bootable, right?

What driver would that be?

The faster easier way of getting into safemode is via msconfig. As it's rebooting mash F2 to enter bios>system config>change the sata operation>apply/exit/reboot>go back into msconfig and uncheck safemode>reboot. Done. You have now changed from RAID to AHCI

A third option to reboot a Windows 10 system in safe mode without typing any CMD command is to go Start Menu > Settings > Recovery > Advanced start. On reboot you will be offered options to start in safe mode with or without network capabilities or even directly to a CMD console. Of course, you will have to change to SATA mode in BIOS/UEFI as mentioned above. The accurate sequence to reboot in safe mode this way might have beeen slightly different for versions of Windows 10 prior to 22H2 but as simple. This feature is also available in Windows 11 through a slightly different path from Start Menu.

@AdrianG001​ This only results in a screen which says my pin is unavailable, and I am stuck in a Boot loop. If I boot in with an installation thumb drive then I can use Repair My PC to get to bcdedit and get out of Safe Mode. As far as I can see the only way to install the correct driver is to set the BIOS to AHCI and reinstall Windows.

@addyman10​ That led me to the same Boot Loop problem as AdrianG001's method.

@electric maple​ I had the same problem, and while I haven't verified it yet, I am rather certain the problem with that boot loop and the message "PIN unavailable" is that Windows is set to only allow Windows Hello sign in and no password. You find that in Accounts > Sign-in options. There is a setting in Additional settings: "For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device (Recommended)". When you turn that off, you can now choose between your account's password and the PIN when signing in.

The instructions to switch mention explicitly that one needs their administrator password, and I am rather certain this is the problem. But as I said - I haven't tried it again after the last failure which resulted in the same boot loop you describe, so I cannot verify for certain that there is no other problem involved. But might be worth a try before doing a clean installation.

I solved the problem by reinstalling Windows after switching the bios to AHCI mode.

(Along the way, I had to reset the bios, because the boot delay got set to 0 and I couldn't hit F2 fast enough. I set the delay to 5 seconds, which is plenty to get into the bios when you need to. If you run into a problem, try a different keyboard. Some keyboards have an alternative set of functions for the F keys, and if it is set to those, F2 won't get you into the bios.)

Then, I could shrink the Windows partition to give me room for a Linux installation.

If you intend to do this, you should use a tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant ( Minitool has one for free ) to resize your Windows boot partition. Since Windows and Linux both store stuff there and Dell uses it when firmware updates are installed (Lenovo does the same thing) 100 Mb is not enough. I would recommend at least 500 Mb. If you do this on a system which has been in use, with lots of stuff already installed and stored in Windows, make sure you back up everything you need to keep, and recognize that moving a partition involves moving all the files in that partition and will take some time. 

 Also, if your Linux installation thumb drive is mounted on a Windows system, Windows silently writes to it and the drive will fail the media test at install. This does not mean that you cannot use the drive, it just means the test no longer works to tell you whether the media is good or not.

Hi, I have a query I am taking Acronis image backup of the system, but it is not reading the SSD drive, will changing to AHCI mode from RAID mode will enable the SSD drive? As I do not have the image backup of the system to restore it.