New Motherboard Upgrade

[chris]

With Windows 98 I could move to a new motherboard without re-installing the
OS. Windows 98 would thrash around for a while, but would eventually find
all the motherboard devices and work.

With Windows XP if the motherboard chipset is significantly different the
system begins loading and then a blue screen error. I have tried starting
in safe mode, last known good, but no luck. If I try a repair installation
again an immediate blue screen.

Does anyone know how to prepare an existing XP install to switch
Motherboards so that it doesn't immediately lock up?

Having to re-install the OS, activate and re-install all the apps takes a
long, long time.

Thank you,

Chris

 

[Malke]

With Windows 98 I could move to a new motherboard without
re-installing the
OS. Windows 98 would thrash around for a while, but would eventually
find all the motherboard devices and work.

With Windows XP if the motherboard chipset is significantly different
the
system begins loading and then a blue screen error. I have tried
starting
in safe mode, last known good, but no luck. If I try a repair
installation again an immediate blue screen.

Does anyone know how to prepare an existing XP install to switch
Motherboards so that it doesn't immediately lock up?

Having to re-install the OS, activate and re-install all the apps
takes a long, long time.

No. You will generally have to do at least a Repair Install, which will
keep your programs and data (but of course you would be smart and back
up first anyway) but will necessitate reapplying patches and updates.

Malke

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

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 WinXP, again, like WinNT
and Win2K before it, is so much more stable than Win9x.

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 will probably 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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[Alex Nichol]

With Windows 98 I could move to a new motherboard without re-installing the
OS. Windows 98 would thrash around for a while, but would eventually find
all the motherboard devices and work.

With Windows XP if the motherboard chipset is significantly different the
system begins loading and then a blue screen error. I have tried starting
in safe mode, last known good, but no luck. If I try a repair installation
again an immediate blue screen.

If this is a retail, not OEM version of XP, do a repair reinstall.
Power up, enter BIOS setup to set date and time, and set boot order to
CD before Hard disk, then 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.

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,

 

[Michael Stevens]

With Windows 98 I could move to a new motherboard without
re-installing the OS. Windows 98 would thrash around for a while,
but would eventually find all the motherboard devices and work.

With Windows XP if the motherboard chipset is significantly different
the system begins loading and then a blue screen error. I have tried
starting in safe mode, last known good, but no luck. If I try a
repair installation again an immediate blue screen.

Does anyone know how to prepare an existing XP install to switch
Motherboards so that it doesn't immediately lock up?

Having to re-install the OS, activate and re-install all the apps
takes a long, long time.

Thank you,

Chris

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]

With Windows 98 I could move to a new motherboard without re-installing the
OS. Windows 98 would thrash around for a while, but would eventually find
all the motherboard devices and work.

With Windows XP if the motherboard chipset is significantly different the
system begins loading and then a blue screen error. I have tried starting
in safe mode, last known good, but no luck. If I try a repair installation
again an immediate blue screen.

Does anyone know how to prepare an existing XP install to switch
Motherboards so that it doesn't immediately lock up?

After the change of hardware, enter the BIOS setup for date/time, and to
ensure that disks are detected correctly. While there, set boot order
to CD before Hard disk. Put in the XP CD, exit, saving settings, so it
boots the 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
rebuild the underlying interfaces to match new hardware.

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.

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,