i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
start all over situation thanks for any help

tnoehl

**** If you have a XP installation CD ****

Any important files should always be backed up in advance of hardware
changes.

Many users, myself included, prefer to do a full clean install after major
hardware changes as you describe.

The alternative, and equally valid option, is the repair install (also known
as an In-Place Upgrade).

See following Knowledge Base article for details. Pay careful attention to
the possible loss of data links in the MS article.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;Q315341

After doing this you may need to re-activate your installation of XP. If it
has been more than 120 days since you last re-activated you should be able
to activate over the internet, otherwise it will require a short phonecall.

After the repair install you will need to re-install any XP service packs
and updates, but you will not need to re-install any applications.

Hope that helps
Pete
--------------------

"tnoehl" <edit> wrote in message
news:0c8b01c36640$f98aa920$(E-Mail Removed)...
> i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
> is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
> start all over situation thanks for any help
>

>-----Original Message-----
>i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
>is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
>start all over situation thanks for any help
>If you are not changing the hard drive ... thats where
the windowsxp files are stored then you should not have
to re-install windows xp
>.
>

Hi, Brian.

It's not enough to have the files. The proper entries must be made in the
Registry. When WinXP Setup was run originally, it detected the hardware
configuration at that point, selected the proper drivers for the devices it
found, and made the proper entries in the Registry. But a new motherboard
comes with a new chipset and a new IDE controller, which need different
drivers to work with your old hard drives and other components. So, Setup
needs to run again to re-customize WinXP to fit your NEW hardware
configuration.

As Pete Baker said, do the in-place upgrade. It might take half a day, but
it will pay off many times in avoiding future frustrations from a system
that is "not quite right".

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(E-Mail Removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Brian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0ded01c36654$43a3a530$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
> >is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
> >start all over situation thanks for any help
> >If you are not changing the hard drive ... thats where
> the windowsxp files are stored then you should not have
> to re-install windows xp

>-----Original Message-----
>i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
>is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
>start all over situation thanks for any help

If you have a Wnidows XP CD, you can install all of your
hardware, and boot to the installation CD. Choose the
first option, and then the repair option. This will
erinstall XP, and then force your computer to redetect
all of its hardware and install the new drivers without
any problems, although if you want to enjoy your new
system more, I recommend a full reinstall; it gets out
most of the possible niggles, and ensures the fastest
setup

Greetings --

Unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the old one
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.), you'll
need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at
the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directo...;EN-US;Q315341

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also require re-activation. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"tnoehl" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0c8b01c36640$f98aa920$(E-Mail Removed)...
> i am putting a new motherboard and chip in my computer.
> is there a way not to have to reinstall winxp or is it a
> start all over situation thanks for any help
>

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:28:59 -0500, "R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi, Brian.
>
>It's not enough to have the files. The proper entries must be made in the
>Registry. When WinXP Setup was run originally, it detected the hardware
>configuration at that point, selected the proper drivers for the devices it
>found, and made the proper entries in the Registry. But a new motherboard
>comes with a new chipset and a new IDE controller, which need different
>drivers to work with your old hard drives and other components. So, Setup
>needs to run again to re-customize WinXP to fit your NEW hardware
>configuration.
>
>As Pete Baker said, do the in-place upgrade. It might take half a day, but
>it will pay off many times in avoiding future frustrations from a system
>that is "not quite right".


A repair installation usually works after a major upgrade BUT it does
not always work. I replaced my motherboard and it refused to boot even
after several attempts to 'repair' my system. I had to format and
reinstall.
To improve matters use the SYSPREP tool provided with the Deploy tools
supplied on the XP CD to 'Prepare the system' for installation on
different hardware'. It will force XP to do a Hardware Detection and
install necessary drivers.
Always do a backup of data otherwise you may lose it if the upgrade
fails.

Peter Hutchison
Windows FAQ
http://www.pcguru.plus.com/

Hi, Peter.

KB article 315341 tells how to do an "in-place upgrade", also known as a
repair reinstallation. This is not the same as simply "Repairing" WinXP.
The steps get confusing, I know, because when we boot from the WinXP CD-ROM
we are first offered an opportunity to Repair, but we must reject that
offer, press Enter to choose to Install WinXP, and then choose Repair from
the NEXT time we see the "R" option. (See paragraphs 2 and 4 under Method 2
in the KB article.)

The first Repair option repairs only the startup files. Proceeding through
"install" to the next Repair option forces WinXP Setup to run again,
including the hardware-detection process.

In some cases, the first Repair option is enough, because all that is needed
is to write or refresh the System Partition's boot sector, plus the System
Files C:\ntldr, C:\ntdetect.com and C:\boot.ini. After almost any change of
motherboard/chipset/HD/controller, though, the re-install is required. The
full repair re-install should always work because it is practically
identical to a clean install, except that it preserves enough of the
Registry that re-installation of applications is seldom necessary.

> I replaced my motherboard and it refused to boot even
> after several attempts to 'repair' my system. I had to format and
> reinstall.

HOW did you attempt to "repair" your system? Did you do the repair
re-install, or only the first repair option?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(E-Mail Removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Peter Hutchison" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:28:59 -0500, "R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi, Brian.
> >
> >It's not enough to have the files. The proper entries must be made in
the
> >Registry. When WinXP Setup was run originally, it detected the hardware
> >configuration at that point, selected the proper drivers for the devices
it
> >found, and made the proper entries in the Registry. But a new
motherboard
> >comes with a new chipset and a new IDE controller, which need different
> >drivers to work with your old hard drives and other components. So,
Setup
> >needs to run again to re-customize WinXP to fit your NEW hardware
> >configuration.
> >
> >As Pete Baker said, do the in-place upgrade. It might take half a day,
but
> >it will pay off many times in avoiding future frustrations from a system
> >that is "not quite right".
>
>
> A repair installation usually works after a major upgrade BUT it does
> not always work. I replaced my motherboard and it refused to boot even
> after several attempts to 'repair' my system. I had to format and
> reinstall.
> To improve matters use the SYSPREP tool provided with the Deploy tools
> supplied on the XP CD to 'Prepare the system' for installation on
> different hardware'. It will force XP to do a Hardware Detection and
> install necessary drivers.
> Always do a backup of data otherwise you may lose it if the upgrade
> fails.
>
> Peter Hutchison
> Windows FAQ
> http://www.pcguru.plus.com/