Another change MoBo question or two..Long one, Sorry

[Sleepyman]

Hello All, This will be a bit long, sorry

My ASUS A7V8X has a problem in that the Secondary IDE header died, I
had this as a set up.Primary Master- HDD0 20gb NFTS-C drive, Primary
Slave-HDD1-80gb FAT32 D,E,F,G partitions. Secondary Master CDROM,
Secondary Slave CD-RW.
To weirdify things a bit more, the day after the Secondary IDE
croaked, the Windows XP Home ed sp1 that I had ordered arrived. So,
after formatting C, I did a clean install anyway. In order to do this,
I had to disconnect Primary Sl.(HDD1) and plug in CDROM to replace it,
so I could use the drive to install XP. After XP install, and a few
other things I needed on CD, I switched back to the original config.
Everything worked fine with the two HDDs on Primary IDE, but on the
occasions I had to hook up the CDROM, it would *only* boot into safe
mode. Needless to say I couldn't format HDD1 into NFTS because only C,
and CDROM were recognized. Which also meant I could only use 32gb of
the 80gb available because I was running Win 98 SE, on a cheesy OEM PC
Chips board whose BIOS combined with the OS wouldn't recognize the
full 80gb available.
At the time, I wasn't sure what the problem with ASUS board was, but
after trying all kinds of things, and eliminating one possibility
after another, I reached the conclusion that the IDE header was indeed
the problem, and if I wanted any semblance of normalcy, I had to buy a
new board. I confirmed my diagnoses on the ASUS site help forums.
I bought an MSI KT6V, which is entirely different than the ASUS board.
So, the MSI owners forum suggested I do a clean install, but the
advice on http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/ suggests that I do a
repair install. Considering the problems I have had of late, I am a
bit nervous about relying on my CDROM. Plus the fact that when using
it, I could only boot into safe mode, and I can't figure out why that
happened, I have no idea what to do.
I don't know if this will make any diff or not, but I am using Athlon
XP 2500+ Barton, 512mb DDR 2700 memory. 350W PSU (26A on 12V rail)
that is not OC'd now, but may be later....
Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what is the best way to
proceed?

Thanks for any advice,

Sleepy

PS, Sorry post was so long...............


If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either

 

[Willie]

Is the WinXP you "Ordered" an OEM, or a "Green Box" Full Retail version? If
I haven't misunderstood what i've heard in this newsgroup in the past, an
OEM version cannot perform a "repair"(Please, someone, correct me if I have
this wrong). Also, if your XP is an OEM version, replacing the MB, and
attempting to use the same CD you just used, *may* create a slight
activation issue. I have seen many posts here regarding OEM versions of XP,
and it's limitations. I too moved to the MSI KT6V from another board, and
ran a repair install (I have the FULL Retail version of XP on this machine),
and all my files, installed programs, etc. were intact (I backed up just in
case). So, it appears as though your question is an *Opinion* question, so
that's mine...Repair is the way to go. Good luck, and I believe you will
like the Board...it's a good middle of the road MSI board.

Willie

 

[Sleepyman]

Thanks for the reply Willie,
It is the retail green box version of XP. I would have liked to have
bought an ASUS A7N deluxe, but $$$ was a limitation, and I was amazed
at what the MSI offered for the price. I was a little nervous about
the fact that it offered so much for so little (relatively). But it
was an MSI, so I am giving it a shot. What I can't understand is why
the owners manual is such utter crapola! Could you tell me what
version of the BIOS you are using? It looks like there is a pretty
recent upgrade.

Cheers,
Sleepy


If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either

 

[Willie]

I know what you mean about "Crapola". I buy all MSI boards, but the KT6V
manual is VERY Brief...The KT4V, which I have on my other computer, is VERY
thorough and complete. I guess ink costs and paper have skyrocketed so much,
that it has changed the whole manual thing. I know most of what is in there
anyway, but it's just nice reference. The BIOS in my KT6V is; AMIBIOS
A7021VMS V1.3 011304, and I haven't had to flash, because if it ain't
broke...Good luck.

Willie