Z68 Pro Gen 3 Fatility add SSD but keep IDE DVD Drive

[jonj238]

I am adding a SATA 3 Samsung SSD drive but have an older IDE DVD drive hooked up with IDE ribbon cable. I am going to install the SSD in AHCI mode but have read that after switching to AHCI my computer will no longer boot from the IDE DVD so I can reinstall windows.

How can I install this new SSD in AHCI, but still keep my backwards compatibility without running the SSD in IDE mode? I have also read that this is a problem with SATA DVD drives.

ASRock Z68 Pro Gen3 LGA 1155 FAtility
i7 2700
Win7 pro 64
No Raid
1 WD 640 gb HDD
1 WD 500 GB HDD
1 IDE DVD
8 GB RAm
EVGA GTX570 2.5GB

[profJim]

Re: Z68 Pro Gen 3 Fatility add SSD but keep IDE DVD Drive

With my P35 system, I have no trouble running a sata2 ssd as my boot drive with AHCI enabled and have no trouble with my $20 Lite-On DVD optical drive. Some IDE optical drives will work with some systems when AHCI is enabled for your ssd. It appears to be hit or miss affair. Hardware incompatibility is always a possibility with any hardware that you install.

[jonj238]

Re: Z68 Pro Gen 3 Fatility add SSD but keep IDE DVD Drive

An update in case anyone is wondering. The new SSD came and I switched to AHCI and was able to boot with my old legacy IDE DVD Rom to install windows. Thanks for the help.

[profJim]

Re: Z68 Pro Gen 3 Fatility add SSD but keep IDE DVD Drive

You're welcome, glad to hear that everything worked out OK.
Thanks for the update.