Installing Windows 7 on SSD with 3 HDD

[priyadarshi]

Hello everyone!
I need help configuring my SSD into right SATA port to install 64Bit Windows 7 Ultimate on it. This is my current system config.
Core i7 930 2.80Ghz
X58A-UD7 (rev.1.0) GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1366 - GA-X58A-UD7 (rev. 1.0)
Kingston SSDnow V100 64GB (SV100S2/64G)
HDD WD Caviar Green 2TB (WD20EARX)
HDD WD Caviar Black 1TB (WD1001FALS)
HDD WD Caviar Green 500GB (WD5000AADS)
G.Skill 3X2GB DDR3 1333Mhz (F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ)
Kingston 1X4GB DDR3 1333Mhz (KVR13N9S8-SP)
On my motherboard there are 10 SATA ports. According to the manual they are:
SATA2_0 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 0 Master (Connected SSD as my SSD is a SATA2 3Gb/s device and updated with Firmware Rev. 120229)
SATA2_1 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 1 Master (Connected SATA DVD Writer)
SATA2_2 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 0 Slave (Connected Gigabyte SATA Bracket)
SATA2_3 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 1 Slave (Connected Gigabyte SATA Bracket)
SATA2_4 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 2 Master (Connected 1TB HDD)
SATA2_5 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 3 Master (Connected 500GB HDD)
SATA3_6 (White in Colour) = IDE Channel 6 Master (Connected 2TB HDD as this HDD is a SATA3 6Gb/s Device)
SATA3_7 (White in Colour)
SATA2_8 (White in Colour) (Connected Chasis I/O panel eSATA Bracket)
SATA2_9 (White in Colour)

After getting my SSD I did the following steps to install the OS.
1. Deleted all partition from 500GB HDD as it contained only the OS
2. Unplug all HDD
3. Connected SSD
4. Installed 64Bit Windows 7 Ultimate
5. Connected all HDD and made partition as shown in Disk Management in my attachment.
After installing the OS on SSD which is on IDE Channel 0 Master in BIOS it shows in Disk 0 when none of the HDD was connected. But after connecting the hard drives the same SSD shows as Disk 1 in Disk Management.
Now, I want these three changes when I clean install Windows 7 again.
1. Install OS in AHCI mode for better performance.
2. Configure SSD on Disk 0
3. Activate the Windows feature for "Safely Remove Hardware" for my eSATA device.
For these changes:
a. Do I need to change ICH SATA Control Mode under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS
b. Change SATA port? But I don't want to change 2TB HDD's port as its a 6Gb/s device and I want to save SATA3_7 (White in Colour) port for future use.
c. Do I need to change eSATA Ctrl Mode under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS

 

[whitestar_999]

i will try to answer some of your queries.first of all sata mode in bios needs to be changed to AHCI to enable native sata mode but this has to be done before installing windows on that particular hard disk(can be done later too but requires registry editing).second i didn't expect someone like you asking about 2tb hdd on a sata3 6gbps port because sata3 hdd's are just marketing gimmick.conventional hdd's can't even fully utilize sata 1(1.5gbps) let alone sata2(3gbps) or sata3(6gbps) so it is recommended to use sata3 ports only for ssd'd & not waste them on conventional hard disks.as for disk numbering it does not matter what number a disk gets in disk management as long as system is running fine.

 

[d6bmg]

b. Change SATA port?

You don't need to.

c. Do I need to change eSATA Ctrl Mode under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS

Don't worry about eSATA as you are not using it to connect any drive.

SATA3_6 (White in Colour) = IDE Channel 6 Master (Connected 2TB HDD as this HDD is a SATA3 6Gb/s Device)
SATA3_7 (White in Colour)

This part is wrong.
Just move that 2TB HDD to SATA3_7 port, and add your SSD to SATA3_6 port.
You may add SSD to SATA3_7 port, but you must use it as master drive, and change the 2TB HDD to slave drive. Don't worry, it won't create any problem.

I want to save SATA3_7 (White in Colour) port for future use.

Future use? You kidding?
Well, then. Connect your 2TB HDD to any SataII port, as a mechanical drive can never reach to the spped which can saturate SATA II.

 

[priyadarshi]

Thank you for your reply friends. After reading your replies I made these changes:

1. Moved 2TB HDD to SATA3_7 port (Not sure if its a Master or Slave and it'll change the position to Disk0). Though I know it is recommended to connect SSD on SATA3 port I didn't moved SSD to SATA3_6 port as this SSD is a 3Gb/s device so I don't think that I'll get benefitted by moving a 3Gb/s device to a 6Gb/s port. But if for any reason it makes any difference in performance, I'll sure move the SSD to SATA3_6.
2. Changed "ICH SATA Control Mode" under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS.
3. Yes, I'll be using my Western Digital 1TB My Book home Edition with eSATA so I changed "eSATA Ctrl Mode" under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS.

I'm still not sure about IDE Channel 0 Master in BIOS and Disk 0 in Disk Management.
SATA2_0 (IDE Channel 0 Master) will be left blank if I move SSD to SATA3_6. Here I want to ask all techies that, is it ideal to leave the first port i.e.... SATA2_0 (IDE Channel 0 Master) blank.

Tell me if I've made the changes properly in BIOS, if not please guide me through the process.

 

[d6bmg]

^^ Everything you have done is correct.

And you are using 3GB/sec SSD? Then there is no need to attach it to SATA3 port. SATA2 would suffice for that drive.

 

[whitestar_999]

don't get confused by ide channel master/slave thing.for some reason many have never been able to understand,Gigabyte has left the SATA ports identification in BIOS as IDE channels.sata is different from ide & has no relation whatsoever with master/slave configuration.it also does not matter what sata port you use as long as drive is being identified correctly by bios.

 

[priyadarshi]

Thank you for your help friends. Earlier I planned to use Gigabyte's Xpress Recovery2 as I found it very useful for my XP machines and it works only when OS HDD connected to IDE Channel 0 Master and SATA DVD Writer to IDE Channel 1 Master. But seems Xpress Recovery2 don't work on Windows 7 64Bit. Gigabyte's Tech Support Team says they've tested the same and it works but trying all possible steps with me ended-up with no result. So I give up the idea and now decided to use Backup and Restore feature of Windows 7. After getting your valuable suggestions I left all the SATA settings as earlier position. i.e.
SATA2_0 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 0 Master (Connected SSD as my SSD is a SATA2 3Gb/s device and updated with Firmware Rev. 120229)
SATA2_1 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 1 Master (Connected SATA DVD Writer)
SATA2_2 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 0 Slave (Connected Gigabyte SATA Bracket)
SATA2_3 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 1 Slave (Connected Gigabyte SATA Bracket)
SATA2_4 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 2 Master (Connected 1TB HDD)
SATA2_5 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 3 Master (Connected 500GB HDD)
SATA3_6 (White in Colour) = IDE Channel 6 Master (Connected 2TB HDD as this HDD is a SATA3 6Gb/s Device)
SATA3_7 (White in Colour)
SATA2_8 (White in Colour) (Connected Chasis I/O panel eSATA Bracket)
SATA2_9 (White in Colour) = Planning to connect Western Digital 80GB SATA HDD for Ubuntu

But changed the following settings.
Changed "ICH SATA Control Mode" under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS.
Changed "eSATA Ctrl Mode" under Integrated Peripherals to "AHCI" in BIOS. As it’ll enable "Safely Remove Hardware" feature for eSATA devices.

Here I want to make dual boot Ubuntu on a 80GB HDD by attaching it on SATA2_9 (White in Colour) with 64Bit Windows 7 Ultimate on SATA2 3Gb/s Kingston 64GB SSD connected on SATA2_0 (Blue in Colour) = IDE Channel 0 Master. Kindly suggest me which OS should I install first. Windows 7 Ultimate or Ubuntu? I want Windows 7 Ultimate as first option in boot menu. I'll be doing both OS a clean install allocating total SSD space for Windows 7 Ultimate and total 80GB HDD space for Ubuntu.