Grasshopper Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 I've changed mainboards before on my past machines but have always done it at a time when it was convenient to reinstall Windows.For several reasons, I'm about buy a chip/board combo and am going to split it up...chip to me and board to wife's machine. I really don't want reinstall Windows on her machine, so my question is, will it harm a good Windows XP Home installation to just change the board and boot up? Do I need to consider staying with the same brand of chipset (sticking with VIA or will going to nVidia be OK too)? I'm experienced in computer hardware work, but doing a board change without reinstalling Windows is new to me and I don't know how it'll react. I know that it'll probably cause an activation to occur but other than that, I'm wondering about drivers and such. Any other considerations?TIA,tbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 I doubt Windows will like that unless your chipsets are the same you will not have the proper drivers on hand to boot up. It will most likely BSOD on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epp_b Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 I've done exactly what you say with my Windows 98SE installation.I basically removed all of the main hardware from the device manager while in safe mode (video, sound, network, etc.). After installing the new board, Windows simply detected all of the new PnP hardware, and I was up and running with in a new board in minutes.However, XP seems to handle PnP differently (possibly not for the better), so I wouldn't know.I'd say go for it -- you don't really have anything to lose (just backup your data first ). If you can get it working without having to reinstall -- great...You've just saved yourself bundles of time! If not, then oh well, you were planning on reinstalling anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 If I remember correctly, tha tis one of those things that triggers the product activation. I just replaced the motherboard/CPU on hubby's machine and had to do a reinstall. I tried a repair booting from disk first but the results were ugly. I had to go back in and do a clean install. It looks like a call to the product activation folks is in store for you. Hope at least the installation will be a breeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 It's a pain, but can be done... Just (as epp_b said), remove all the device drivers in the Device Manager right before you do the install... Then, when Windows boots with all the new devices, you'll have to install the new drivers...If it's been at least 3 months since you activated XP, you won't have to make any phone calls... just a simple click of the activation again. :)Just make sure you have good backups in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 FWIW I've replaced dead mobos within XP and all I did was reinstall using the repair option. It did request a reactivation but only over the net no different then the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 5, 2003 Author Share Posted September 5, 2003 Thanks guys and gals.I'd thought about the device drivers but didn't think to remove them first. Good idea.I'm not worried about an activation with this machine. The only time it has done it is on the first install. I haven't made any significant enough changes to the machine since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2cm Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 First carefully check the combo you are about to buy. There are some that has the processor (and cooler) solded on the board, which means you can't split them up for use on 2 machines without voiding the waranty or damaging the board or procesor. Performance wise, nVidia Nforce boards are superior to VIA's on AthlonXP systems. For Pentium4 systems, SiS/648 boards are good alternatives to Intel boards.Changing boards without doing a clean install of the OS isn't much of a problem with Win9x/ME. Going into safe mode and removing the chipset-related items in Device Manager would help: Hard disk controllers, Universal Serial Bus controllers, and System devices.For WinXP, at the first power up, boot from the CD and reinstall XP using the repair option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 7, 2003 Author Share Posted September 7, 2003 I'm not familiar, in practice (though I am in concept), with the repair option.What, precisely, does it do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsden11 Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Before You Perform an In-Place UpgradeIMPORTANT: If your computer came preinstalled with Windows XP, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base before you follow the steps later in this article:312369 May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling Windows XP If you perform an in-place upgrade of Windows XP, all existing restore points are removed and a new System Checkpoint restore point is created after the in-place upgrade is complete. Do not perform an in-place upgrade if you may need to use System Restore to roll your system back to a previous state.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 301224 System Restore 'Restore Points' Are Missing or Deleted Backup copies of your registry files (in the %systemroot%\Repair folder) are also replaced after the in-place upgrade is complete. The registry files in the Repair folder are either from the first time you started Windows XP or the last time you used the Backup utility to backup your System State. Copy these registry backups to another location before you perform an in-place upgrade if you may need to use them after the in-place upgrade is complete.Do not perform a repair or in-place upgrade to repair a component or program that is not currently installed. If you can, use Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel or reinstall the component or program instead of Windows.If your computer requires a non-Microsoft mass storage device driver or HAL, make sure that you have a copy of the necessary files on a floppy disk before you perform a repair or in-place upgrade.Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade to try to resolve a problem with a user account, password, or local profile. To determine if the problem is related to a user account, password, or local profile, create another user account (if you can) and log on to that account to see if the problem is resolved.Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade to resolve a problem with third-party applications, files or registry entries.Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade if you suspect disk problems.Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade if you suspect a problem with a non-Microsoft device and the latest device drivers are currently installed for the device.Method 1: Reinstall Windows XP from Within Windows XPTo reinstall Windows XP from within Windows XP, follow these steps: Start your computer.Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.On the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP page that appears, click Install Windows XP.On the Welcome to Windows Setup page, click Upgrade (Recommended) in the Installation Type box (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.On the License Agreement page, click I accept this agreement, and then click Next.On the Your Product Key page, type the 25-character product key in the appropriate Product key boxes, and then click Next.On the Get Updated Setup Files page, select the option that you want, and then click Next.Follow the instructions on the remaining pages of the Windows XP Setup Wizard to reinstall Windows XP.Method 2: Reinstall Windows XP by Starting Your Computer from the Windows XP CDTo reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps: Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD. NOTE: Your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, see your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer.You receive the following message on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears: This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer: To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER. To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3. Press ENTER to set up Windows XP. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.Follow the instructions on the remaining screens to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may be required to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.After You Perform an In-Place UpgradeAfter you perform an in-place upgrade or repair installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows.It basically replaces all windows systems files without hosing your data or registry files. Any installed programs will still work without having to re-install them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 7, 2003 Author Share Posted September 7, 2003 So in essense, it's like in the old 9x days when you'd either delete or rename the Windows directory and do a new install?Cool. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 NO I'd say it is easier then that. Despite Marsden11 long post mostly it's pop a CD in select Repair and go through the same drill that you go in any Windows XP install. It's more like an "install on top" reinstall of Windows 9x. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 25, 2003 Author Share Posted September 25, 2003 ...bump...It's been posted, that with XP, I should remove all device drivers and initiate the repair option.Also someone stated to just do the repair option.Which is it?If it is remove drivers, am I to remove EVERYTHING single entry listed under device manager???Sorry, I just want to be clear on this.Thanks,tbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 For less conflicts and easier installing, delete everything in the device manager before you install the new mainboard... It'll pickup and automatically reinstall everything that stays, but this will prevent duplicate entries (and therefore problems) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 26, 2003 Author Share Posted September 26, 2003 Ah, now it makes sense.Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twofivepie Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 Related to this topic, I was thinking of upgrading my system by buying a new motherboard (and essentially keeping the rest of the system - disks, CD drive etc). It strikes me that there are potentially two problems with this.The first is that my Windows XP install was actually an UPGRADE to an OEM install of Windows 98. Microsoft Support told me on the telephone that my OEM install was tied to the hardware, so I guess that means I have to buy a full copy of XP?The second is that I am not sure if the new disk controller on the new board would be able to handle the existing disks?Sorry if these are a bit basic questions, still a bit of a novice on anything under the lid of my PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 The first question is NO. You don't need a full copy. The copy of Windows 98 OEM may be tied to your hardware but the XP copy works on anything.. The tied to the hardware line is mostly a legal issue. Legally your not supposed to install the OEM version on new hardware. You can upgrade the hardware in your computer but the license is tied to that box. Now some large OEMs like DELL and GATEWAY and others have modified the OEM disks so that they only run on the box they were installed on but if you've got a whitebox clone then that doesn't apply to you.You can wipe the disk and install XP and all XP upgrade will ask for is to look at your copy of Windows 98. As for your hardware it is hard to answer that if you don't tell us what hardware you've got.... I missed that class in telepathy 101. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twofivepie Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 Thanks.Good point on the hardware - dohhh!. I am not on the machine at the moment so can't check the actual models.What I really meant was if my current motherboard has an IDE controller and I have C: and D: IDE disks, then can a new and different IDE controller, on a new motherboard, control those disks by virtue of them both using the IDE interface, or is it not that simple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlT Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 One thing (if you have not already started!), if you are changing stuff on a brand name computer that had the OS already installed, you may find (as I did on an HP with win98SE), that when you get to specialized drivers (eg., audio), when I went to reinstall the drivers, I got messages that said "cannot be installed on a non HP computer . . . ", so make sure you really DO have the drivers for everything! KarlT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2cm Posted September 27, 2003 Share Posted September 27, 2003 The new motherbord's onboard IDE controller should be able to handle your current drives (if these are regular IDE devices). No, you won't lose your C: and D: drive. These partitions will still be there after you switch motherboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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