Consider the following scenario. You install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). At the time of the installation, you install a Serial ATA (SATA) controller driver other than the Microsoft Advanced Host Controller Interface (MSAHCI) driver. Then, after Windows Vista SP1 is installed, you update the existing SATA driver to the MSAHCI driver. However, when you restart the computer after you update the driver, you receive the following stop error message:

STOP 0×0000007B (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

Consider the following scenario:

• You are using a Windows Vista-based computer.
• The computer has a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drive that has full-disk encryption capability.

In this scenario, when the SATA hard disk drive is operating in Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) mode, the hard disk drive may stop responding. Additionally, the computer may crash.

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment: A computer bus technology primarily designed for transfer of data to and from hard disks and optical drives.

Consider the following scenario:

• You are running a Windows Vista-based computer.
• The computer has a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drive that has full disk encryption capability.

However, when the SATA hard disk drive uses Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) mode, the hard disk drive may stop responding. In this situation, the computer may crash.

When you run the chkdsk /r command or the chkdsk /f command to check a hard disk that is larger than 2 terabytes on a Windows Vista-based computer, the command takes a long time to run.

This problem occurs if the disk is an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk.

Consider the following scenario. You have two Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disks attached to channels SATA0 and SATA1 on a Windows Vista-based computer. However, Disk 0 may not be assigned to the hard disk on SATA0, and Disk 1 may not be assigned to the hard disk on SATA1. You expect the disk-assignment numbers to match the corresponding SATA channel numbers.

You can see the assigned disk numbers by using any of the following methods:

• Run the Disk Management console. To do this, click Start Start button , type diskmgmt.msc in the Start Search box, and then click diskmgmt.msc in the Programs list.
• Use the Diskpart.exe command-line utility to run the list disk command.
• During Windows Vista setup, the assigned disk numbers are listed when you are prompted to select a drive and a partition for the installation.

Note: Under certain circumstances, it may be difficult to notice that the disk numbering does not match the corresponding SATA channel numbers. For example, if both SATA hard-disk sizes are identical, it may be difficult to tell the disks apart by using these methods.

You try to install Windows Vista on a computer that includes a DELL CERC SATA 1.5/6ch RAID controller from Dell. However, when the computer restarts, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

STOP 0×0000007B (0xF9813BD8,0xC0000034,0×00000000,0×00000000)
INACCESIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) optical drives, such as a CD or a DVD drive, may not be available after you start a Windows Vista-based computer.

If you’ve got a few thousand dollars laying around (maybe 50 or so thousand actually) you can have a SATA flash drive for Vista! Keep reading →

When you try to install Windows Vista on a portable computer that uses an ATI SB600 Series chipset, each driver may take a long time to install. Therefore, the Windows Vista installation process may take several hours.

This problem occurs only on a computer that uses a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) device that is operating in Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) mode. This problem does not occur if the SATA device uses SATA Combined mode or Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) mode.