Motherboard Change - Advice needed

[Mack 007]

Hello All

I am planning to change my PCs motherboard. I currently have Windows XP with
all updated except SP2 installed. Further, I have also installed a LOT of
other applications which I hate re-installing again.

My problem is, when I changed the motherboard of another PC hoping that
Windows XP will do an auto detect plug and Play, for my bad luck, XP failed
to start (Not even in Safemode, last known config). I had to reformat the
harddisk and did a fress install.

I do not want happen the same to my PC also. Therefore, please kindly advice
me what to do before I change the motherboard. How do I tell Windows XP to
forget about all the hardware information it has now and look for the new
changed next time it starts.

Thank you

 

[george]

One method that I know of and that has worked for me in the past goes as
follows.
*Before* you change the board and have your old system still running OK, go
into Device manager and open up the 'Computer' node.
Now right-click the board that is listed there and 'Update Driver'.
In the Wizard I'd suggest *not* to go to Windows Update to search.
-Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)
-Don't search. I will choose the driver to install
-Choose the type of MB you are going to put in later, or possibly 'Have
Disk' if you do
When the wizard has finished you need to restart the system anyway, so that
would be the moment to physically start changing the board.
As I said, in the past it worked for me, because by the time you bring your
system back up again the now needed new hal.dll, ntoskrnl.exe etc. are
already in place.

hth

george

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I am planning to change my PCs motherboard. I currently have Windows XP with
all updated except SP2 installed. Further, I have also installed a LOT of
other applications which I hate re-installing again.

My problem is, when I changed the motherboard of another PC hoping that
Windows XP will do an auto detect plug and Play, for my bad luck, XP failed
to start (Not even in Safemode, last known config). I had to reformat the
harddisk and did a fress install.

I do not want happen the same to my PC also. Therefore, please kindly advice
me what to do before I change the motherboard. How do I tell Windows XP to
forget about all the hardware information it has now and look for the new
changed next time it starts.

Mack,

do a repair installation after changing the motherboard.

Boot from the install CD (must be a full retail version, not a
limited OEM version).

First select to install Windows XP. Do not choose the repair
option.

On the next menu you should get a choice to do a repair
installation of your existing installation. Choose that, rather
than a fresh installation.

Hans-Georg

 

[Mack 007]

Thanks for the reply.
This method did not work for the other machine as the disk was "Dynamic".
The Windows XP install process did not detect the Dynamic disk partitions
correctly.

How do you guys think about using SysPrep for this work?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hello All

I am planning to change my PCs motherboard. I currently have Windows
XP with all updated except SP2 installed. Further, I have also
installed a LOT of other applications which I hate re-installing
again.

My problem is, when I changed the motherboard of another PC hoping
that Windows XP will do an auto detect plug and Play, for my bad
luck, XP failed to start (Not even in Safemode, last known config).
I
had to reformat the harddisk and did a fress install.

I do not want happen the same to my PC also. Therefore, please
kindly
advice me what to do before I change the motherboard. How do I tell
Windows XP to forget about all the hardware information it has now
and look for the new changed next time it starts.

Thank you

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

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]

Hello All

I am planning to change my PCs motherboard. I currently have Windows
XP with all updated except SP2 installed. Further, I have also
installed a LOT of other applications which I hate re-installing
again.

My problem is, when I changed the motherboard of another PC hoping
that Windows XP will do an auto detect plug and Play, for my bad
luck, XP failed to start (Not even in Safemode, last known config). I
had to reformat the harddisk and did a fress install.

I do not want happen the same to my PC also. Therefore, please kindly
advice me what to do before I change the motherboard. How do I tell
Windows XP to forget about all the hardware information it has now
and look for the new changed next time it starts.

Thank you

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

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

This method did not work for the other machine as the disk was "Dynamic".
The Windows XP install process did not detect the Dynamic disk partitions
correctly.

Is there a good reason why the disk is dynamic?

Hans-Georg