Dead MB, HD needs repair but no XP disk (OEM) can it be done on XP

[Guest]

Here's the deal - MB died, tech says HD needs repair thru XP. Got no XP disk
as it was an OEM install. DO have another machine running XP64, and wanted
to know if I can repair the old HD in the XP64 machine (that way I can
replace the MB and put the HD back into the old machine).

If so, how - if not, suggestions?

 

[Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]]

That would depend on what needs to be "repaired".

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Here's the deal - MB died, tech says HD needs repair thru XP. Got no XP
disk
as it was an OEM install. DO have another machine running XP64, and
wanted
to know if I can repair the old HD in the XP64 machine (that way I can
replace the MB and put the HD back into the old machine).

If so, how - if not, suggestions?

How similar is the new motherboard?

If it isn't similar enough, you generally have to rerun the XP install.

OEM vendors are required to provide some method of reinstalling XP, which
means a CD, recovery partition or a way of making a recovery CD.

The original hard disk may have a restore partition (particularly if there's
no CD) that can be accessed at boot time.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

According to the tech, the Hard Disk needs to be "repaired" via the XP repair
function. My big question is, can this be done on a different system that's
running XP64Pro - if it can, I'll pull the machine out of the shop and do it
myself.

 

[Guest]

Motherboard is different, I've been told I'll have to "reactivate" XP to
allow it to work with the new board (due to OEM version). The tech put the
HD into a different machine put can't access it - states it needs to go thru
the "repair" process available on XP. As noted in my other reply, can this
be done via a different machine running XP64?

Real reason is simple. He wants $250 to install a new MB and do the
"repair" - it's an older machine (533 Celeron) and I don't want to spend any
more than I have to. I can do the labor, and have a 900 Duran MB/Processor
combo I can use, so the "repair" part is the only hang-up. If I have to,
I'll ask him to do the "repair" part only, but would really like to do it
myself (both to keep it cheap and to learn how).

 

[Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]]

It shouldn't hurt to put it in an X64 machine. I would assume that the
standard disk utilities would work just fine, but have never tried it.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Motherboard is different, I've been told I'll have to "reactivate" XP to
allow it to work with the new board (due to OEM version).

No, that's not what Activation or repair installs are for. Activation
allows the OS to run after a grace period, by getting an authorization code
from Microsoft. A Repair install resets the OS install to a default state
(plus installed apps) but without updates.

The tech put the
HD into a different machine put can't access it -

Don't confuse NTFS permissions (you have to Take Ownership to get past
Access Denied messages) with needing a repair install.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

states it needs to go thru
the "repair" process available on XP.

A repair install, yes. If motherboards are different enough to not boot.

As noted in my other reply, can this
be done via a different machine running XP64?

Sorry, you want to do a repar install while the drive is hosted as a
secondary drive in an xP64 system?

I think this cannot be done, and if it could, you'd have to do it again when
you attached it to the real motherboard. Plus, it might negatively affect
the boot drive on your x64 system.

However, you can Take Ownership and back up your files first, via the x64
system.

Real reason is simple. He wants $250 to install a new MB and do the
"repair" - it's an older machine (533 Celeron) and I don't want to spend
any
more than I have to. I can do the labor, and have a 900 Duran
MB/Processor
combo I can use, so the "repair" part is the only hang-up. If I have to,
I'll ask him to do the "repair" part only, but would really like to do it
myself (both to keep it cheap and to learn how).

To do a repair install, you assemble the system, boot from CD, follow the
prompts to perform a Repair install - not use the Recovery Console. Aside
from paying attention to where it's installing, and not formatting it if
that isn't what you wanted to do, it's pretty straightforward. Once it's
done, be sure to install motherboard drivers right away, as key hardware
(NIC, video, audio) probably won't work properly.

HTH
-pk