Drivers are one of the most crucial things to have properly installed on your computer. They allow you to use components that aren’t natively handled by Windows 10 and allow your computer to fully function. This is why it’s important to have the correct drivers installed for your Standard SATA AHCI Controller.
Every storage disk — also called a hard disk — is connected to your device using the SATA AHCI Controller Driver. Having missing, outdated, or corrupted drivers may cause issues such as unavailable drives, problems when accessing drives, and eventually loss of data.
In this guide, you can discover how to properly download Standard SATA AHCI Controller Drivers for Windows 10 operating systems. We’re also showing you how to install drivers in the fastest, most effective way possible.
What is SATA?
SATA (also known as Serial ATA) stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It’s a technology used to connect modern-day storage solutions such as hard drives to your computer.
The SATA protocol, compared to older technology, is much faster and more efficient when it comes to reading and writing data. This means that using a SATA driver is crucial if you want to build a computer that can perform well.
What is AHCI?
AHCI stands for Advanced Host Controller Interface, which is a key component when it comes to connecting your Windows 10 system with the SATA technologies. Its primary function is to provide communication through your motherboard, which reads the AHCI protocol and processes information traveling in-between the two ends.
AHCI has brought a lot of efficient tools and solutions to the market, especially for servers. It allows users to perform actions on the go, even if they used to require an entire computer shutdown before.
What is the SATA AHCI Controller?
SATA AHCI is the way you can control every AHCI based storage drive connected to your computer via the BIOS interface of your system. You can optimize the handling of both SSD and HDD solutions with the Native Command Queuing, even if your computer uses both.
Besides allowing you to get a better understanding of your storage, the SATA AHCI Controller also provides faster transfer speeds for large files. Here is what you need to know in order to download and install Standard SATA AHCI Controller Drivers on your PC.
1. Before downloading: Check your processor type
The file you need to download depends on the type of processor in your computer. Luckily, you can easily check this information by following our steps below. Once you have your answer, simply proceed with the corresponding steps.
- Press the Windows + I keys on your keyboard to open the Settings window. Alternatively, you can access this from the Start menu as well.
- On the System tab.
- Select the About tab from the menu on the left side of the window. This is where you can see all the information about your computer, its components, and your system.
- Check the text next to “Processor.” Take note of whether the branding displays an Intel or AMD-based processor.
- Close the Settings window.
2. Download Standard SATA AHCI Controller drivers for Windows 10 AMD
If you have a computer with an AMD processor, download the latest Standard SATA AHCI Controller drivers for AMD. This page is an official source from Microsoft, which means it’s a trusted source.
3. Download Standard SATA AHCI Controller drivers for Windows 10 Intel
Similarly, users who have an Intel-based processor should download the latest Standard SATA AHCI Controller drivers for Intel.
Quick tip: Do you have issues when downloading these files? Make sure your internet browser, antivirus application, or firewall isn’t blocking the download. If needed, temporarily disable the listed services and try downloading again.
4. Install or update drivers for Standard SATA AHCI Controller
After downloading the correct driver for your computer, you need to install it. There are two ways in which you can install your new driver: automatically and manually.
To automatically install your Standard SATA AHCI Controller driver, simply double-click on the file you previously downloaded, which should have a (.exe) file extension. This is automatically going to install the latest driver you downloaded.
If the automatic installation fails or doesn’t work, you might have to manually update your existing Standard SATA AHCI Controller driver. To do so, follow the steps below.
- Press and hold the Windows key on your keyboard, then press R. This will launch the Run utility.
- Type in “devmgmt.msc” and hit OK to bring up the Device Manager.
- Expand the “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” category. Your SATA controller(s) should be listed here.
- Right-click on each of the listed items in this category, then select “Update driver.”
- Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software.” If this option doesn’t work, you can try manually locating the drivers you previously downloaded.
- If Windows 10 can find an updated driver, it will automatically download and install the update to your computer.
We hope that this guide was able to help you download and install the correct Standard SATA AHCI Controller Driver for your Windows 10 system.
If you notice in the future that your system is experiencing similar issues, feel free to return to our article and apply some other fixes. If nothing works, we recommend turning to either Microsoft’s customer support team or looking for an IT specialist in regard to your PC’s health.