Installed Win 7 on RAID in bios-set RAID mode; can I now enable AHCI in Windows and still boot...

Hi.

I installed Windows 7 on a RAID0 array (bios set to RAID mode). Everything works great.

Now I have installed a cheap (Antec Easy SATA) little hot swappable 5.25" hard drive bay in the front of my computer and connected it to one of my spare SATA ports on my motherboard (Asus P67 Sabertooth rev. 3). It reads drives fine as long as I plug one in before I actually boot my system. If the system is already booted in to Windows 7, the drive is not detected (ie "hot swapped/hot installed").

I'm assuming this is because I installed Windows 7 in RAID mode instead of AHCI mode and the AHCI drivers were therefore never installed.

What I would like to know is this:If I enable AHCI mode in Windows via the typical registry hack, while leaving my bios set to RAID mode, will Windows still be able to see my RAID array (which is my boot drive)? And would this then allow me to hot swap 3.5" drives in my drive bay?

I am reluctant to do the registry hack as I'd hate to be stuck out of my system/array drive with no means of changing the reg back; therefore, I thought I would ask on this forum first and before proceeding.

I'm of the mind that Windows 7 will see my RAID array even after I install the AHCI drivers as, technically, the RAID drivers will still be on my system.

So let me know if you have any comments.

Thanks in advance for any assist.

Best.

Joel

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