I have a bad motherboard on an XP professional pc. I know the OS and all
applications are working perfectly. I do not want to reinstall the whole
enchilada (OS and Apps) again. The original CPU and Memory fit the new
system board perfectly. How can I start the OS and replace the drivers for
all the new controllers on this new board without having to redo everything
again? Can I start in safe mode and reinstall any neccessary drivers? Thank
you for any suggestions.

Joe

Boot with your XP cd and perform a repair installation.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

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"Joe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a bad motherboard on an XP professional pc. I know the OS and all
>applications are working perfectly. I do not want to reinstall the whole
>enchilada (OS and Apps) again. The original CPU and Memory fit the new
>system board perfectly. How can I start the OS and replace the drivers for
>all the new controllers on this new board without having to redo everything
>again? Can I start in safe mode and reinstall any neccessary drivers? Thank
>you for any suggestions.
>
> Joe
>

There is no reason to post to so many different news groups. Pick the 2-3
that are most relevant and post there.

The only way to truly optimize your new M/B is to perform a repair install.
You will then have to go to Windows update to get the relevant updates, as
some will have been neutralized by the reinstall. You will also have to load
the dedicated M/B drivers (chipset drivers) for your new M/B, reload the
video drivers, audio drivers and any other drivers that may have been
neutralized by the reinstall.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"

"Joe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a bad motherboard on an XP professional pc. I know the OS and all
>applications are working perfectly. I do not want to reinstall the whole
>enchilada (OS and Apps) again. The original CPU and Memory fit the new
>system board perfectly. How can I start the OS and replace the drivers for
>all the new controllers on this new board without having to redo everything
>again? Can I start in safe mode and reinstall any neccessary drivers? Thank
>you for any suggestions.
>
> Joe
>

Joe wrote:
> I have a bad motherboard on an XP professional pc. I know the OS and all
> applications are working perfectly. I do not want to reinstall the whole
> enchilada (OS and Apps) again. The original CPU and Memory fit the new
> system board perfectly. How can I start the OS and replace the drivers for
> all the new controllers on this new board without having to redo everything
> again? Can I start in safe mode and reinstall any neccessary drivers? Thank
> you for any suggestions.
>
> Joe
>
>


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore not transferable to a
new motherboard - check yours before starting), unless the new
motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE controllers,
same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP installation was
originally performed, 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

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it,
is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to accepting any
old hardware configuration you throw at it. On installation it
"tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This is one of the
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

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

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. 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

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