New Motherboard install

[Guest]

Is it necessary to do a complete install of Windows XP when installing a new
motherboard and processor or can I do a repair install. I cannot lose the
info(Files) on the hard drive.

 

[Rich Barry]

Absolutely try a Repair Install first. Before you do this you can try
uninstalling as many devices as you can from Device Manager. I did this
recently and WinXP found the new MB devices and a Repair Install was not
necessary.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Is it necessary to do a complete install of Windows XP when installing a new
motherboard and processor or can I do a repair install. I cannot lose the
info(Files) on the hard drive.

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific 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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safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Kerry Brown]

If you cannot lose the files why do you not already have a backup? You
should be able to do a repair install but there is always a possibility of
something going wrong. You need a backup before you do this.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Spend another $50-100 on a new, bigger,faster hard drive and
do a clean install on the new drive. Use the old drive as
your backup and "restore" your data to the new drive. You
can partition the new drive in order to keep data and OS
clean.



message | If you cannot lose the files why do you not already have a
backup? You
| should be able to do a repair install but there is always
a possibility of
| something going wrong. You need a backup before you do
this.
|
| --
| Kerry
| MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
| http://www.vistahelp.ca
|
|
| eme2 wrote:
| > Is it necessary to do a complete install of Windows XP
when
| > installing a new motherboard and processor or can I do a
repair
| > install. I cannot lose the info(Files) on the hard
drive.
|
|

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

I agree with Jim.. Installing onto a new drive is safe, and means that you
can recover stuff at your leisure.. it also gives you a decent backup drive
after you have finished the task..

 

[Jim Macklin]

Glad for the recognition. Any excuse to buy a new computer
should be a good excuse to upgrade hardware all around.
IMHO a new mobo and CPU is mostly a new computer.


"Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User"
|I agree with Jim.. Installing onto a new drive is safe, and
means that you
| can recover stuff at your leisure.. it also gives you a
decent backup drive
| after you have finished the task..
|
| --
| Mike Hall
| MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
|
|
|
| | > Is it necessary to do a complete install of Windows XP
when installing a
| > new
| > motherboard and processor or can I do a repair install.
I cannot lose the
| > info(Files) on the hard drive.
|
|

 

[Jonny]

There is no assurance the CHS perception of the hard drive will be identical
on both motherboards. This can alter the mbr, partition, and file system
table. And put the files in slightly different alignment. Making all
unusable at worst, and filename and internal file data alignment out of wack
at the least. Save your personal data and other stuff you want to keep to
media that doesn't depend on bios recognition of CHS on a hard drive. CD
and DVD readers/writers don't have this problem. External USB/Firewire
enclosures have their own firmware to recognize hard drives. Add-on ide
cards can be moved to a new PC, they also have their own bios. USB thumb
drives are independent of a PCs onboard bios.

 

[Kerry Brown]

There is no assurance the CHS perception of the hard drive will be
identical on both motherboards. This can alter the mbr, partition,
and file system table. And put the files in slightly different
alignment. Making all unusable at worst, and filename and internal
file data alignment out of wack at the least. Save your personal
data and other stuff you want to keep to media that doesn't depend on
bios recognition of CHS on a hard drive. CD and DVD readers/writers
don't have this problem. External USB/Firewire enclosures have their
own firmware to recognize hard drives. Add-on ide cards can be moved
to a new PC, they also have their own bios. USB thumb drives are
independent of a PCs onboard bios.

This hasn't been a problem for quite a few years.

 

[Jonny]

This hasn't been a problem for quite a few years.

So you say. When exactly did all this change? Where exactly is this
documented for all reasons/seasons?

 

[Kerry Brown]

So you say. When exactly did all this change? Where exactly is this
documented for all reasons/seasons?

I don't know of any documentation, just my own experience. I only saw this
problem once. It was back in the days when hard drives were just breaking
the 528 MB barrier and different BIOS' used different methods to work around
the 528 MB barrier. It is still somewhat common when using disk overlay
programs to get around BIOS limitations but if the BIOS on both motherboards
support the hard drive size without an overlay I haven't seen the problem
for years. Even with most current overlay programs you can remove the
overlay and then install the disk in a computer that doesn't need the
overlay with no problems.

 

[Jonny]

I don't know of any documentation, just my own experience. I only saw this
problem once. It was back in the days when hard drives were just breaking
the 528 MB barrier and different BIOS' used different methods to work
around the 528 MB barrier. It is still somewhat common when using disk
overlay programs to get around BIOS limitations but if the BIOS on both
motherboards support the hard drive size without an overlay I haven't seen
the problem for years. Even with most current overlay programs you can
remove the overlay and then install the disk in a computer that doesn't
need the overlay with no problems.

You one lucky guy. I've seen it since I've been building my own PCs since
95. Next to last one was one year ago. Original PC was intel chipset board
with Celeron P4, changed to intel chipset handling a Prescott P4. Both
used 2.4 GHz cpus. Both Award bios.

Last one was a Via chipset board/AMD 266. Updated with motherboard and cpu
from old above.

Neither could reproduce the filenames all correctly, when booting from
alternate boot media. Neither could successfully clean install XP using the
old partitions intact. Both used WD hard drives. Both, using WD lifeguard
found nothing wrong with the hard drives.
Neither ever saw a hard drive with such a small capacity you're speaking of.
You just might be wrong...?

Sounds like another reason some of you guys don't understand why some
recommend clean installs on new partitions when swapping motherboards. I
don't doubt your veracity. Just open your mind a little beyond what you've
experienced to others with other, much different experiences. The reason
being is obvious.

 

[Kerry Brown]

You one lucky guy. I've seen it since I've been building my own PCs
since 95. Next to last one was one year ago. Original PC was intel
chipset board with Celeron P4, changed to intel chipset handling a
Prescott P4. Both used 2.4 GHz cpus. Both Award bios.

Last one was a Via chipset board/AMD 266. Updated with motherboard
and cpu from old above.

Neither could reproduce the filenames all correctly, when booting from
alternate boot media. Neither could successfully clean install XP
using the old partitions intact. Both used WD hard drives. Both,
using WD lifeguard found nothing wrong with the hard drives.
Neither ever saw a hard drive with such a small capacity you're
speaking of. You just might be wrong...?

Sounds like another reason some of you guys don't understand why some
recommend clean installs on new partitions when swapping
motherboards. I don't doubt your veracity. Just open your mind a
little beyond what you've experienced to others with other, much
different experiences. The reason being is obvious.

I've changed hundreds of motherboards and probably double that for hard
drives and have never seen the problem for many years. It is possible but
very unlikely that was what caused your problem. I'm not saying you're wrong
or it didn't happen to you. However if it was common you'd see it coming up
all the time on the newsgroups. I can't remember ever seeing a post a post
about it before yours. The only thing I can think of is if you somehow
entered the hard drive parameters manually instead of letting the BIOS
autoset them or picked the wrong choice when autosetting. Some older BIOS'
give you three choices for translating large hard drives. If you pick
anything other than LBA then this is the problem. If you pick LBA they all
translate the same. Newer BIOS' don't offer a choice they just set it.