Replacing motherboard and CPU - what will happen to XP?

[Gonzo]

Will I have to start again with re-installing the entire WinXP Pro if i
upgrade my Motherboard and CPU?

 

[Guest]

You will have to run a repair install of Windows XP. Just boot to the XP CD
at first screen hit enter second screen hit f8 and third screen hit R if you
don't have R as an option then you may have the wrong cd in or you may have
another problem which might cause you to have to reformat and install Windows
XP. Good Luck.

Joe

Kemco Technician

 

[Malke]

Will I have to start again with re-installing the entire WinXP Pro if i
upgrade my Motherboard and CPU?

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html - for changing motherboard

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Will I have to start again with re-installing the entire WinXP Pro if
i upgrade my Motherboard and CPU?

Probably not. But unless the new one is identical to the old, you'll have to
do at least a repair installation. See ""How to Perform a Windows XP Repair
Install" http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Although that usually works, it's sometimes not enough, and you may have to
reinstall cleanly. You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html


or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm


or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Will I have to start again with re-installing the entire WinXP Pro if i
upgrade my Motherboard and CPU?

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are 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/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;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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