# Solved: AHCI BIOS Not Installed -- Computer Slow to Start Up



## cgheilman

Hi everyone,

I have a Dell Inspiron 530s. It has a 2.53Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD.

The last two times I started up the computer, it started up MUCH SLOWER than before. It took forever to get through the Dell splash screen. It used to take 10 seconds to get through it, but now it takes more like three to five minutes. After I get past the flash screen, it flashed "AHCI BIOS not installed" 

This is the first time I've seen it, and I haven't touched the inside of the computer or changed any settings. The only thing I've done is upgraded to Windows 7 Professional.

Does anyone know how to get this to go away? I hardly shut down my computer now so I can avoid the extremely long startup process.

Thanks in advance!

Christian


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## Elvandil

Try changing the SATA operation setting, possibly from "RAID Autodetect AHCI".


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## cgheilman

I couldn't find that setting on my BIOS. All I found was "SATA Mode" and it was at IDE and I changed it to RAID. When I changed it to RAID, the computer would blue screen and restart, so I changed it back to IDE and it still took forever to start up.

I have the latest BIOS update for the Inspiron 530s (it's 1.0.18) and I can't understand why it's doing this all of the sudden because I have never opened up the computer since I ordered it.

Thanks for your help everyone.


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## Elvandil

Was the date right in BIOS?


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## cgheilman

The BIOS date and time are set correctly.

The only thing I can remember doing is installing a Dell printer/scanner about a week ago, but I don't think that would be causing the problem. Is there some other setting I should be looking for in the BIOS?

Will completely reinstalling Windows 7 fix this?

Thanks for the assistance.


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## Elvandil

How long did you have 7 before this showed up?

It seems strange that it would appear like this out of the blue, and if it is a hardware-related change, reinstalling may waste your time.

What was on the machine before? How old is it? 

Is it running normally otherwise?


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## cgheilman

I've had 7 installed on this machine for about 6 months and I had Windows Vista Home Premium on it beforehand. The computer isn't that old... it was purchased in November of 2008. And, of course, it just went out of warranty.

After the computer starts up it runs perfectly fine... no slowdowns or anything. That's why it's confusing. Especially because I haven't played with any of the hardware. That's my primary computer so I keep out of it and don't open it at all.


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## Elvandil

Well, it is always possible that the added hardware slowed the startup a bit. If there is more hardware to detect, the time should increase a bit.

As far as the message, check Device manager to see if there are any problems, but is is possible that the message has been there all along only flashing too fast for you to see. It is not uncommon for a message like that to flash, the machine to then find what it was looking for, and then for the message to disappear. The new hardware may have just given it time to flash.

So if it is running normally otherwise and you can deal with the increased startup time, I would leave well enough alone.

I'm assuming that the message does not stop the boot and require you to press a key, is that correct?

If you are having any other problems related to slowness while the machine is running, or other errors, you might want to check in the Malware forum for help.

You should also check your disks for errors.


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## cgheilman

It was a printer that came with the computer that I haven't used until now... I can't imagine that that's the reason my startup time went from (literally) 45 seconds to over three minutes.

The message just goes away itself. I don't have to press anything. Nothing shows up in the device manager either.

I'd really like to have it start up like normal, because it is a huge nuisance to have to wait to long. If you have any other thoughts I'd really appreciate it.


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## Elvandil

Try uninstalling the printer. If it goes back to normal, then you'll have to do without a printer if you want speed.

You could also check for an updated BIOS and see what problems it addresses. If you give us the model data as detailed as you can, we will help look.


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## cgheilman

Thanks for the suggestion to uninstall the printer! It turns out that's EXACTLY what the problem was! I unplugged it, deleted it from my devices and printers window, and viola! Computer starts up just fine.

I noticed that the message still shows up, but it gets through the message and splash screen in 10 seconds instead of the 5 minutes it took before. I'm not going to worry about it, since it's working fine now!

Thanks again for your help.


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## Elvandil

What about your printer? You can always just plug it in when you need it, of course.

I woudn't worry about that message. It may be just as I said and the message pops up, it finds what it needs, and the message is no longer correct, so it disappears.


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## cgheilman

The printer was a freebie that I got with the computer a year ago. I just wanted to use up the remaining ink so I would get my money's worth. I'm sure I could just plug in the USB when I wanted to use it and unplug it before I shut down - that would do the same thing too.


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## Elvandil

Yeh. Mine isn't even on most of the time since I don't print much. It is connected and just sitting there. Maybe you can leave yours connected so long as the power is off. Then just switch it on to use it.


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