Share via

Uninstalling the Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver

  • Article

Every day I analyze dozens if not hundreds of crash dumps for users across various online communities. I believe it's safe to say that a fairly large portion of the crashes I see regardless of the bug check (usually however 0x9F in the case of an IRST crash-related issue), are caused by the Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver. I cannot myself comment on why this driver is as troublesome as it appears to be on 7, 8, and 8.1. If I had to say, it's either due to a bug in the driver itself in certain versions that remains unresolved unless updated (or unresolved in general), or a specific conflict that only exists on specific user-systems depending on what exactly the conflict may be.

This wiki will discuss the proper way to uninstall Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver and replace it with the standard Microsoft SATA AHCI Controller driver. Unfortunately, in many cases Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology is not like most software that you generally can uninstall from Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs, etc. If you attempt to do it improperly, given the impact this specific driver can have on your system/the way it alters your boot configuration, you may not be able to boot your OS after its removal.

-- Do note you should only be using this method if updating the driver from your manufacturer's website does not help!

Uninstall and replacement:

Fortunately for us, the method in which you uninstall this driver and replace it is not overly difficult, just slightly different compared to most software that includes a driver on the system. Let's get started!

-- Before making any changes to your system, I highly recommend setting a Restore Point just in case:

Vista - START | type rstrui - Select "Create a Restore Point".

Windows 7 - START | type create | Select "Create a Restore Point".

Windows 8/8.1 - Same as Windows 7.

After the above is accomplished and you've set up a Restore Point, we can move on with the uninstall and replacement of the driver.

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Right-click Computer, and then select Properties.
  3. On the left-hand side of the System window, under Control Panel Home, click Device Manager.
  4. Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
  5. Double-click your Intel(R) _________________ SATA AHCI Controller.
  6. Navigate to the Driver tab of the controller properties window.
  7. Select Uninstall.
  8. Restart the system after the uninstall is complete.
  9. After the system restarts and you've booted back into Windows, navigate back to Device Manager and ensure that under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, it is now Standard SATA AHCI Controller.
  10. If the above is true, you're all set! The only thing left to do is ensure that anything regarding Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver-wise is not loaded. There are multiple ways to do this, but the most user-friendly is by using DriverView - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
  11. Once you've downloaded and installed DriverView, sort it by Driver Name (although it should be set that way by default).
  12. Ensure none of the following drivers are listed - iaStor.sys, iaStorA.sys, iaStorF.sys, iaStorS.sys, iastorv.sys.
  13. If none are listed, you're officially finished and can stop reading the rest of the steps. Good job!
  14. If however one of them is listed, head back to Device Manager and select View, and then check Show hidden devices.
  15. After showing hidden devices, double-click Non-plug and play Drivers.
  16. Right-click on your respected Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver, and then select Properties.
  17. Navigate to the Driver tab and then under Startup, change it to Disabled.
  18. Restart the system.
  19. Now you should be all done if step #13 was not your last!. Good job!

**-- If the above did not work, we'll need to do it slightly different, but most of the steps remain the same minus uninstalling it. Let's again set up a Restore Point:

Vista** - START | type rstrui - Select "Create a Restore Point".

Windows 7 - START | type create | Select "Create a Restore Point".
**
Windows 8/8.1** - Same as Windows 7.

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Right-click Computer, and then select Properties.
  3. On the left-hand side of the System window, under Control Panel Home, click Device Manager.
  4. Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
  5. Double-click your Intel(R) _________________ SATA AHCI Controller.
  6. Navigate to the Driver tab of the controller properties window.
  7. Select Update Driver.
  8. Ensure you select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer, and then select the Standard SATA AHCI Controller.
  9. Apply/OK.
  10. Restart the system.
  11. After the system restarts and you've booted back into Windows, navigate back to Device Manager and ensure that under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, it is now Standard SATA AHCI Controller.
  12. If the above is true, you're all set! The only thing left to do is ensure that anything regarding Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver-wise is not loaded. There are multiple ways to do this, but the most user-friendly is by using DriverView - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
  13. Once you've downloaded and installed DriverView, sort it by Driver Name (although it should be set that way by default).
  14. Ensure none of the following drivers are listed - iaStor.sys, iaStorA.sys, iaStorF.sys, iaStorS.sys, iastorv.sys.
  15. If none are listed, you're officially finished and can stop reading the rest of the steps. Good job!
  16. If however one of them is listed, head back to Device Manager and select View, and then check Show hidden devices.
  17. After showing hidden devices, double-click Non-plug and play Drivers.
  18. Right-click on your respected Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver, and then select Properties.
  19. Navigate to the Driver tab and then under Startup, change it to Disabled.
  20. Restart the system.
  21. Now you should be all done if step #13 was not your last. Good job!

Hope this helps, and thanks for reading!