E-Sata Hard drive and dell computers (E4300)

After updating my Windows 7 installation (from the beta version to the official release) I started to look at my eSata hard drive. It never worked on my Dell E4300 but I thought it was due to the beta version of 7 but apparently not.

So I search on the internet for a solution. I went on many many forums and so on, and I actually found many people with the same problem...But so solution on sight...I finally find the solution of my problem on a Dell forum...


Good news. I solved this problem!


I just received a new Latitude E6400 from my new employer. Since I am a long time eSATA proponent, all my external drives are eSATA, so of course I was very excited about the presence of a built-in eSATA port. Unfortunately, none of my external drives were being detected over eSATA, only USB. Luckily I am very good at troubleshooting, because I am certain this problem would have been WAY over Dell Tech Support's collective heads.


1) Realized that eSATA on Intel Mainboard requires Intel Matrix Storage Manager, which I initially downloaded from dell.com's "My Drivers" page. The latest version is always available from Intel by searching Google for "Intel Matrix Storage Manager"


2) Drivers refused to install, claiming my system did not meet the minimum system requirements


3) Did a little research, and found that eSATA and SATA on same controller requires AHCI or IRRT enabled in the BIOS under "SATA Operation", but that changing this mode from ATA to AHCI would likely cause windows to blue screen on boot. I gave it a shot, the BIOS warned me of the same possibility and that a reinstall of Windows was needed, I rebooted, and sure enough Windows Vista failed to boot. Repairing from the Vista DVD wasn't an option, because I was on Vista SP2 and the disc is SP1, so I began researching a clean fix.


4) Found the following page: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ahci-vista (If link gets stripped, try searching "Convert SATA IDE to AHCI on Vista" on Google.


5) The article sent me to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 (If link gets stripped, try searching 922976 site:microsoft.com on Google


6) Followed the instructions in KB922976 to enable the MS AHCI system-level service


7) Rebooted for safety


8) Shut-down, entered BIOS, changed SATA Operation from ATA to AHCI, booted succesfully into Vista 32


9) Waited for all SATA devices to be rediscovered (HDD, DVD-ROM)


10) Installed latest version of Intel Matrix Storage Manager from Intel


11) Rebooted for safety


12) Waited for all SATA devices to be rediscovered (HDD, DVD-ROM)


13) Connected eSATA device, which was discovered immediately without needing to reboot!


I hope this helps!


If you still have problems, try searching SATA Operation ATA AHCI IRRT for many pages discussing other things that might go wrong.


Best Regards,


Jason Hofmann