Motherboad dead

[Ron Crea]

My motherboard died and I purchased a replacement from a
different manufacturer. Both have AMD Athlon Processors.
I would like to avoid reinstalling Windows XP Home
Edition and reloading all of my SW if possible.

Is it possible to Boot from the existing Hard drive, and
do whatever fixups will allow it to work with the new
motherboard. I plan to use the same peripherals I am
currently using. Are there any tricks to making this
work, or is just too much trouble to even consider this
approach?

Thanks

 

[Chris Lanier]

Normally, unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the
old one (same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.),
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

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This may also require re-activation. 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.

*All Courtesy Bruce Chambers

 

[R. McCarty]

If the motherboard "Chipsets" are compatible, then your
XP should boot. However, you should verify that your BIOS
settings are matched as close as possible to the old MB.
Any differences will be re-enumerated on the 1st boot &
you may end up with numerous "Phantoms" in the DevMgr.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Normally, unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the
old one (same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.),
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

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This may also require re-activation. 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

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Wish I'd seen this before I replied. ;-}

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

 

[Michael Stevens]

My motherboard died and I purchased a replacement from a
different manufacturer. Both have AMD Athlon Processors.
I would like to avoid reinstalling Windows XP Home
Edition and reloading all of my SW if possible.

Is it possible to Boot from the existing Hard drive, and
do whatever fixups will allow it to work with the new
motherboard. I plan to use the same peripherals I am
currently using. Are there any tricks to making this
work, or is just too much trouble to even consider this
approach?

Thanks

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
Move XP to new hardware.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Alex Nichol]

My motherboard died and I purchased a replacement from a
different manufacturer. Both have AMD Athlon Processors.
I would like to avoid reinstalling Windows XP Home
Edition and reloading all of my SW if possible.

Is it possible to Boot from the existing Hard drive, and
do whatever fixups will allow it to work with the new
motherboard.

With a motherboard change you should do a repair re-install. Power up,
hit the hot key into BIOS setup, set date/time and make sure the disks
are detected correctly (in lba mode). Set the boot order to CD first,
and with the XP CD in the drive Exit, saving settings to boot the XP
CD, start Setup (do not take 'Repair' at this stage), then after the
license agreement take 'Repair Installation'. This will retain your
existing software installations and most settings. But Updates will
have to be run again, especially SP1;
It is important to activate the basic XP Firewall before you ever
connect to the net to get the patches, so as to be protected against
things like the BLAST worm.

If you have drivers that only come with SP1, like USB 2 ones, you will
need to update drivers for the devices concerned. You may find that
things like virtual memory settings and some aspects of appearance have
reverted to defaults

This should retain your activation status, though if you have never
registered you may have the setup suggest it now (don't bother). But
you may nevertheless find you have made so many changes that you need to
activate again by phoning in, not a big hassle, but be prepared for it