New Mainboard Under XP

[Chas]

I have upgraded my computer a few times under win xp only to find i need to
reload my operating system again because of the hardware
changes.(Motherboard) Is any one able to help me with this issue that would
save allot of time and backing up.

 

[Steve C. Ray]

In most cases you don't have to do a complete reinstall. You can do a repair
install, which normally won't affect your data. To do a repair boot from the
XP CD (you may have to set the CD drive as the first boot device in BIOS).
On the first screen press Enter to setup Windows. Next press F8 to accept
the licensing agreement, then press R to repair the current installation.
You will have to reload updates.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

If you're changing the motherboard, plan on re-installing. That's the way
it is. You can try installing all the necessary drivers, first, and then
move the hard drive, but your mileage may vary.

 

[henry]

I have changed motherboards and let windows xp pro find the hardware and
install drivers without problems several times, so try first if it doesn't
work then do a repair install. This box I am using was freezing when first
turned on, sound drivers were the problem, just swapped hard drivers and
after finding drivers works fine without a reinstall.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

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 will 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

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