Replacing motherboard

A

Anthony W

I replaced the motherboard in a computer with XP pro and it will boot
into safe mode but I'm unable to uninstall enough of the drivers to get
it to come up in normal mode to install the new drivers.

Is there an easy way around this or should I just back up the data and
reinstall XP?

Tony
 
G

GreenieLeBrun

Anthony said:
I replaced the motherboard in a computer with XP pro and it will boot
into safe mode but I'm unable to uninstall enough of the drivers to
get it to come up in normal mode to install the new drivers.

Is there an easy way around this or should I just back up the data and
reinstall XP?

Tony
Click to expand...

You need to do a repair install then install the various drivers, but back
up your data first, things do sometimes go wrong.

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
 
A

Anthony W

I wasn't able to get a repair install to work so I will be deleting the
partition and reinstalling tonight.

I haven't had good results with repair installs since Win95. It may
work for others but I never seem to be that lucky...

Tony
 
V

Victor

I replaced the motherboard in a computer with XP pro and it will boot into
safe mode but I'm unable to uninstall enough of the drivers to get it to
come up in normal mode to install the new drivers.

Is there an easy way around this or should I just back up the data and
reinstall XP?

Tony
Click to expand...

I suggest you forgot a few steps.

First of all, when moving to a new motherboard, ALWAYS use a new hard drive.
Trust me, you'll want the original hard drive, with drivers, as a backup.

This is a Best Practices procedure.

Before proceeding, remove al unneeded PCI cards such as Ethernet, USB, etc.

1. Format the new hard drive using the NEW motherboard.
This is a crucial step. Different motherboard drive electronics have
different signal timing characteristics (in theory, this shouldn't matter,
In practice, as a hardware engineer I'm telling you it's very important).
ALWAYS format a new drive with the motherboard it will be used in. Failure
to do this can result in a hard drive crash - although the probability of
this happening if you are using NTFS is low, there is still a chance.

2. Using your original motherboard, clone your original drive to your new
drive. When done, put your original drive away as a safe backup.

3. Put your NEW drive in your ORIGINAL motherboard. Boot as an
Administrator.

4. Uninstall all disk utilities such as disk optimizers/defragmenters. You
should always do this on a newly cloned drive. Norton Speeddisk, for
example, stores sector information in the registry so that running Speeddisk
on a newly cloned drive can almost guarantee a drive crash.

Also, disable or uninstall any unneeded boot programs such as firewalls,
antivirus or antispyware programs, CD/DVD writer software, etc.

5. Re-Boot to the BIOS. Disable Plug-n-Play
a. Boot to Windows, Log in as an Administrator.
b. Go to Device manager, and delete EVERYTHING you see under 'System
Devices". This should uninstall everything that is motherboard related.
windows now has no motherboard drivers.
c. TURN THE COMPUTER OFF. Your drive now has no hardware drivers. In my
opinion, this makes it dangerous to do anything Windows related. However,
some have shut down Windows from this point with no problems.

6. Put the new drive in with the new motherboard. Boot immediately to BIOS,
make sure Play-n-Play is enabled, the time is properly set, the hard drive
is properly detected, and that all settings are "safe" (do not overclock,
etc).

7. Down a shot of tequila.

8. Reboot the computer into Windows XP as an administrator. If the BIOS is
set up properly, Windows will install all drivers. When Windows is done
installing drivers, reboot Windows whether asked to or not.

9. Go into Device Manager and make sure all looks good.

10. Go out and get drunk.
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Anthony said:
I replaced the motherboard in a computer with XP pro and it will boot
into safe mode but I'm unable to uninstall enough of the drivers to get
it to come up in normal mode to install the new drivers.

Is there an easy way around this or should I just back up the data and
reinstall XP?

Tony
Click to expand...


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

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
A

Anthony W

This was not an OEM copy of XP, it's an upgrade copy of XP Pro from
WinME. I built the original computer for the client shortly before the
release of XP and did a reinstall of XP with a new hard disk for them a
bit over a year ago.

It's a good thing I backed it up well as the repair install f"ed it up
good. I've never had a problem reactivating a reinstall of XP upgrade
but this could be the first time (hope not...)

The client was over due for a faster machine but wouldn't have replaced
it if the old motherboard hadn't failed. Actually the power supply blew
and took the motherboard with it and it seems to have taken one of the
optical drives too but this is OT for this group...

Tony
 

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