OEM motherboard replacement

  • Thread starter Thread starter ck
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C

ck

Anyone have experience with HP Model XT963. I may need to replace the MB in
this box and the re-install is on a seperate partion. i.e. no XP CD.

Will a repair install work with a new MB and processor. I'd rather not have
to reload/rebuild this and I'll spend the effort tracking down the same MB
if need be. Well I can try anyway, these were sold by Wal-Mart and there
should be some parts around.

TIA
Chris
 
Hi,

The OEM version included with your system will probably not install on any
hardware other than that which was supplied with it. Chances are that it
will balk at installing if you swap in a non-HP motherboard, so you are sort
of stuck either paying HP for a replacement or purchasing a retail version
of WinXP to install to the new hardware.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
If the PC is still under a warranty then I would send it back for them
to sort it out.

Alternatively, you will need to google for the correct Mobo. The only
problem I can foresee is the serial number of the mobo as this forms
part of the activation process.

Also, you will be better off costing this before you start doing
anything as sometimes it is better to buy a new PC with better specs.
 
I had one of those Wally World HPs MB fail.
HP actually had the exact replacement MB in stock.
I could have gotten a non HP MB cheaper (by far) than the $110; but then I
would have to have bought Windows again.
 
ck said:
Anyone have experience with HP Model XT963. I may need to replace the MB in
this box and the re-install is on a seperate partion. i.e. no XP CD.
Click to expand...


Unless you're getting an identical motherboard from HP as a
replacement, you'll not be able to easily recover your current WinXP
installation.

Will a repair install work with a new MB and processor.
Click to expand...


Only if you get an identical model replacement motherboard from HP, and
then no repair action should be necessary.

I'd rather not have
to reload/rebuild this and I'll spend the effort tracking down the same MB
if need be. Well I can try anyway, these were sold by Wal-Mart and there
should be some parts around.
Click to expand...



Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore 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
 
Dixonian69 said:
you will have to find exact OEM MB

or purchase full retail win xp cd!!
Click to expand...

Um, excuse me, but you're starting to sound a lot like Carey Frisch
here. A generic OEM CD will work for this. Costs considerably less, too.

Steve N.
 
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