PATTY said:
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF A MAJOR HARDWARE UPGRADE, INCLUDING NEW MOTHERBOARD,
CPU, RAM, VIDEO CARD, CASE, AND FLOPPY. WE KEPT THE 2 HARD DRIVES ON WHICH
WE ALREADY HAD WINDOWS XP IN GOOD WORKING CONDITION. WE ALSO KEPT THE
INTERNAL CD ROM DRIVE AND EXTERNAL CD WRITE DRIVE. MY QUESTION IS WHETHER
XP'S AWARENESS OF THE NEW HARDWARE IS CAUSING OUR CURRENT PROBLEM. WE CAN
NOT GET WINDOWS TO OPEN AND DOS DOES NOT RECOGNIZE EITHER CD DRIVE.
EVERYTHING ELSE (ALL THE NEW STUFF) SEEMS TO BE FINE. IN FACT MY KIDS HAVE
BEEN HAVING A GREAT TIME TODAY PLAYING THEIR OLD DOS GAMES ON IT. BUT, WE
DO WANT TO GET WINDOWS AND THE CD DRIVES TO WORK AGAIN. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
THANKS
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.
Also, please unstick your CapsLock key. Posting in all caps, as
you have done, is the Usenet equivalent of shouting, and is considered
very rude by a great many people. More importantly, posting in all caps
makes the post very hard to read, further reducing your chances of
getting help.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
