installing a new m/b on m/c with 2 hard drives.

[Guest]

hello everybody,
would appreciate some help with my prob. My old motherboard will shortly
be replaced by something much newer, faster probably running an 64 bit chip
with the applicable mobo. This is my question, (a) will i need to reformat
both hard drives to enable installation of mobo. (b) will all my hardware,
i.e. graphic card, sound card, all need to be re-installed. What type of
memory will I need? Sorry to ask so many questions, I hope someone or
somebodies can help me, any help very gratefully accepted. Thanks.

 

[Rich Barry]

You should at least do a Repair Install of WinXP on the System Drive.
The other drive should work fine. All the drivers for your graphic and sound
card will have to be reinstalled. Your Motherboard specs determine what
Memory you will need.

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much for your helpful reply. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

To determine your options for memory, go to crucial.com and use the memory
configurator. You will pick your motherboard from a list and the result
will be choices that will work with your board.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

hello everybody,
would appreciate some help with my prob. My old motherboard will shortly
be replaced by something much newer, faster probably running an 64 bit chip
with the applicable mobo.

This is my question, (a) will i need to reformat
both hard drives to enable installation of mobo.

No, of course not. However, you will need to perform a repair
installation of the OS.

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.

(b) will all my hardware,
i.e. graphic card, sound card, all need to be re-installed.

It's possible that the repair installation of the OS will also require
some device drivers to be reinstalled, but not necessarily so.

What type of
memory will I need?

What ever specific type the motherboard manufacturer recommends or at
least lists as compatible with the new motherboard.




--

Bruce Chambers

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