Mutt said:
I installed a new Motherboard and CPU and tried to boot it up. After I booted
and nothing happened I found that The power supply switch was set for 220 and
not at 115 watts mode. Did I fry this board and CPU or is there a way to save
it
Please help
mutt (e-mail address removed)
I'd think it unlikely that you've hurt the motherboard, unless you
persisted in using the incorrect setting for a significant time. It's
be more likely that you damaged the power supply. The voltage selection
switch tells the motherboard what voltage (not watts) is going to be
coming in, not what voltage to send to the motherboard. However, if the
incorrect voltage setting actually did "fry" the motherboard, there'll
be no way to save it. Once you reset the the switch to 115VAC, does the
computer power up and enter BIOS? If not, first check the power supply
for an internal fuse, then replace the power supply.
Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific motherboard chipset and
therefore 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
Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
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
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