Why bother to use AHCI mode, why not IDE mode?

I am using a laptop model ACER ASPIRE 4530. Ever since I formatted the laptop in 2011, I have been facing this common error every 1-2 weeks. Which is during the laptop start up, it will entered blue screen. Then I need to enter to the BIOS setup via F2 button and changed the SATA mode from AHCI to IDE. Didn't bother to fix this until recently, I found its kinda annoying even during browsing the internet, it will enter blue screen. I need to restart the PC and reset the BIOS setting and start it all over again. I start to search and asking around for expert advice. Then I started to get more insight about this problem. Some said I need to reformat with BIOS set to AHCI mode, some said I need to change the CMOS battery and etc. Deep inside I know this does not solve the root cause that I am facing.

Then, I realized my issue is actually due to weaken CMOS battery and without AHCI driver installed. Everytime after I reset the BIOS setting under  advance I/O tab with SATA type to IDE mode, I able to boot the PC normally. On the other hand, AHCI mode will cause it jump into blue screen. After a while of using in IDE mode, the weak CMOS battery can't retain the BIOS setting information and will reset to default, which is the AHCI mode. The PC will look for this driver but it is not available because I didn't install it. This is because the ACER driver disc does not has executable file for the AHCI, has only the .sys and .dll files, I do not know how to install this until recently.

First, on the My Computer icon, right click and highlight on manage, and left click. Double click on System Tool, and then Device Manager. Go to the top and highlight on the USERNAME-PC, right click and click on Add Legacy Hardware. When a Welcome to Add Hardware Wizard appear, click on Next button. Select Install the Hardware That I Manually Select From a List(Advanced) and hit Next button. Highlight the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers list and click Next button. Search the driver file from your driver disc or you can download the latest from the motherboard manufacturer or laptop OEM website.

Content inside IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers before install AHCI driver

After this, you have done installed the AHCI driver but if you notice in the Device Manager, the list has an asterisk with yellow symbol appear beside infront of it with code 10 error, means that there is some inadequate information required to enable  this driver to works. This could be the registry value in the system driver file is incorrect. Need to reset the value.

This is some insight about registry before we start to fix it.  Windows Registry is the hierarchical that stores configuration setting and option on Microsoft Windows OS.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\
*device driver, comes with the latop or hardware's driver disc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\
*system driver, comes with the window OS

System driver link local system(window OS) to BIOS while device driver link to the device itself. Information between device driver and system driver must be matched in order to allowed the device to function properly.

In my case, I need to ensure the 'start' file in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci has the same value as the 'LegacyAdapterDetection' file in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318 which is the value of 0.

Now, restart the PC and press F2 to enter BIOS. Change SATA type to AHCI mode, boot the PC. You may check the  IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers in Device Manager, the activated controller is now changed to NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA controller.

Well, you may ask why I need to bother to use AHCI if IDE is already working. Then, you should ask back yourself why prefer to use Nokia 3310 while having a Iphone 6 smartphone? So the same goes to the AHCI mode and IDE mode. It is the management protocol to handle the transfer between processor and storage media. AHCI stands for Advanced Host Controller Interface. A standard used by vendor to define the parameters for their design. It utilize the Serial ATA which is lesser number of wires and higher transfer rate compared to IDE, which is also known as the Parallel ATA. Transfer rate for IDE range from 5MB/s up to 133MB/s, while SATA speed range from 150MB/s to 600MB/s. IDE has 40pins while some has 80pins, SATA on the other hand has only 7pins.

Conclusion, If you don't wan to get annoyed by glitches or buffering when watching or fast forward a video clip, you should consider to use the AHCI mode. For better illustration, please watch the below video clip and spot the difference between AHCI and IDE mode.

IDE Mode

AHCI mode

Why some external HDD use two USB connector?

I have bought this Hard-Disk since Oct 2010, adequate four years by now. Model brand is Imation with capacity of 500GB. The Part#:  imn-apollo-g2 2.5 phdd-500gb

The only thing I don't understand is why does the cable that connecting to the computer has two terminal. By plug in/unplug either one or one by another sequentially to the computer USB port will cause some impact sound heard from the HDD. Feel like it going to spoil anytime soon.

 Out of nowhere I got my hardworking and courage instinct to open up the HDD casing to take a look whether there is any specification written inside. One of the reason also because I cant find any datasheet or user guide of this model from the website. Interestingly, I found the HDD model is Toshiba brand but now the company has been acquired by Western Digital. Looking at the sticker, it require a 5Vdc 1.0A to operate. Now its clearer to me. Normal USB port on computer is USB 2.0 which is supplying 5Vdc 0.5A max, to enable the HDD working properly, it uses two USB terminal. These two connected in parallel. By doing this, voltage will be same while current is summation of both. Meanwhile for nowadays laptop with USB 3.0, its capable of supplying 5Vdc 0.9A max. For my case, I need to connect/disconnect both the USB terminal simultaneously to the computer ports to avoid damage on the HDD.

 The hard disk connection is Serial ATA type. Its been converted to USB type with onboard processor and microchip. Then imation resell the HDD as their brand.

How to Format a Netbook Without Using the DVD-ROM

Until a certain extend, laptop must be formatted anyway, else it will become super dumb and slow. Normally we will plug in the Window Operating System's DVD into the DVD-ROM and set the DVD-ROM as the priority to run in the setup mode. When I was using my sister netbook, which is a mini laptop without the DVD-ROM, it was fully occupied with viruses and super slow then I realize it is the time to format it. In order to do so, I need to invest RM200++ for a hardware DVD-ROM. It will be waste afterwards because I will use it once for formatting purpose. Then I was thinking is there any other method to method at a cheaper cost...
*You can try to copy the whole Window OS files into the pendrive without performing below configuration and proceed to the formatting which I had tried earlier but failed.

What you need...
1. Netbook
2. Window OS DVD
3. USB pendrive with a capacity higher than the Window OS content

Steps...
1. Plug in the USB pendrive
2. Type CMD in the search box and hit Enter
3. The DOS window will prompt up, type diskpart and hit Enter again, another DOS program will ask permission to proceed, click YES to allow it and you will see something as below.

4. Type list disk then hit Enter, you will see total hard disks that are connected to this laptop. Check on the Size and identify which Disk ### is your pendrive. In my case, I am using 8GB, so Disk 1 is my pendrive.

5. Then, I will select my pendrive with the command select disk 1, and type detail disk to confirm it. The disk name is ETS, yes indeed. Type list disk again and infront of disk 1 will has a * to indicate that it is being selected.

6. Following by type clean to clear the configuration information on the disk. At this point, your pendrive is not accessible.
DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

7. Then, type create partition primary and hit Enter.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

8. Type select partition 1 and hit Enter.
Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

9. Type active and hit Enter. This section is the key factor that enable the pendrive to work/detectable during format.
DiskPart marked the current partition as active

10. After that, type format fs=fat32 and hit Enter. You can also tried with NTFS instead of FAT32, normally pendrive uses FAT32 while hard disk uses NTFS. Check out this link to know the difference between FAT and NTFS.
100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully format the volume.

11. Type assign and hit Enter. This will assign a new drive letter to the pendrive. For example, mine initially was E: but now become G:
DiskPart successfully assign the drive letter or the mount point.

12. Finally, type exit

13. Now, copy the whole Window OS files from the DVD into the pendrive. Plug in the pendrive into the netbook. Go to the laptop setup page, define this pendrive as the priority start up device and restart the netbook. Format as usual.

*Halfway during the formatting process, the netbook may requires a restart. Unplug the pendrive the moment it restart and plug it in when it resume the format page. Else, the netbook will not able to restart, it will stuck in the blue screen.

How to Turn Your Portable Broadband to Become a Wi-Fi Hotspot for All Other Devices Including Androids

Bear in mind that wireless ad-hoc network is only visible to computers, android devices are not able to view and connect it. In order to make the computer's network visible to android devices, Microsoft Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter needed to be utilized. Therefore, we are going to activate this adapter in the following manner, this is compatible for all devices.

1. Run CMD with administrator rights.

2. Type these commands with one followed by another
(i) netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NAME key=PASSWORD
(Change the NAME and PASSWORD as you like)

(After (i) is entered, the following message will be shown)
The hosted network mode has been set to allow.
The SSID of the hosted network has been successfully changed.
The user Key passphrases of the hosted network has been successfully changed.

(ii)netsh wlan start hostednetwork

(After (ii) is entered, if message below prompt up, enable the Wi-Fi adapter as shown in step no.4)
The hosted network couldn't be started.
The group or resources is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.

(After (ii) is entered, if message below prompt up, make sure the Wi-Fi is turned ON)
The hosted network couldn't be started.
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

(If this message is shown, you are good to go :-) )
The hosted network started.

3. Go to Control Panel, under Network and Internet, choose View Internet Status and Task. And then click on Change Adapter Setting on the left column as shown in the picture below.

4. Click once on the Microsoft Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter to highlight it. Then right click to enable it if it is disabled. This adapter is comes with Window 7 or later. Sometimes will only appear after the above CMD command in step no.2 is entered.

5. Once this is done, go back to the earlier window at View Internet Status and Task, and click on the on the Broadband's status instead of the wireless' status as shown.

6. Click on the Properties tab.

7. After that, select the Sharing tab and check on the Allow Other Network Users to Connect Through the Computer's Internet Connection's box. Under the Home Networking Connection:, it will has selection of LAN, Wireless or Private Network and sometimes it is unchangeable. Ensure the Wireless Network Connection 2(normally is Microsoft Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter) is selected.

8. If it is unchangeable, go to step window at View Internet Status and Task, change the Broadband and Wireless to Public Network instead of Home or Work Network. Then, it will be changeable. If it is still existing, disable and enable the Wireless Network Connection in step no.4.

You will be able to use to broadband internet without need to spend money to buy a router!!!