Upgrading MB and CPU

[Mattrixx]

It`s been about 3 years since I did a major upgrade of my computer.
I'm considering replacement of my motherboard and CPU.

Other than that damn Windows Product Activation, I am wondering if I can
replace my Epox MB (socketA) and XP T-Bred 2400+ with an Asus MB (socket
939) and Athlon64 3700+ CPU,
and still *MAINTAIN* all my Programs and data which are scattered amongst
three separate HDD`s?

Or, will I necessarily have to *RE-INSTALL* all Programs and Data from
scratch because of the major hardware changes?
In otherwords, would a Motherboard (and CPU) upgrade require basically
starting all over software wise?

Thanks for any experienced insight from any of you "veterans" out there.

Matt

 

[JAD]

you will have to:

reactivate (maybe, as not every time this happens when changing just the MB,
in your case its a major change so you will have to)
reinstall mother board drivers/
do a repair install of XP

your data will be in tact as long as everything goes the way you would like.
HOWEVER if you have a raid setup and the controllers are different , you
lose.

 

[KC Computers]

It`s been about 3 years since I did a major upgrade of my computer.

I'm considering replacement of my motherboard and CPU.
Other than that damn Windows Product Activation, I am wondering if I can
replace my Epox MB (socketA) and XP T-Bred 2400+ with an Asus MB (socket
939) and Athlon64 3700+ CPU, and still *MAINTAIN* all my Programs and data
which are scattered amongst three separate HDD`s?> Or, will I necessarily
have to *RE-INSTALL* all Programs and Data from scratch because of the
major hardware changes?
In otherwords, would a Motherboard (and CPU) upgrade require basically
starting all over software wise?

We are a dealer and have found that doing a repair installation of Windows
XP immediately after installing the new motherboard works ~75% of
the time. That keeps all your programs, desktop settings, etc. intact.

What you have to do is: Boot from the XP CD, skip past the screen that asks
if you want to 'repair using recovery console.' The next screen or perhaps
the one following should ask whether you want to do a 'repair install' or a
'clean install.' Choose 'repair.' It may ask for the product 'key,' the 25
alpha-numeric characters you entered with your first install.

From experience as well, Microsoft will typically let you re-activate
your Windows XP if you tell them you had to repair the system
with a new motherboard.

 

[spodosaurus]

It`s been about 3 years since I did a major upgrade of my computer.
I'm considering replacement of my motherboard and CPU.

Other than that damn Windows Product Activation, I am wondering if I can
replace my Epox MB (socketA) and XP T-Bred 2400+ with an Asus MB (socket
939) and Athlon64 3700+ CPU,
and still *MAINTAIN* all my Programs and data which are scattered amongst
three separate HDD`s?

Or, will I necessarily have to *RE-INSTALL* all Programs and Data from
scratch because of the major hardware changes?

No, you can boot using the windows xp cdrom and proceed as if you were
doing a new install. Do not go to 'repair console' for this, keep going
until it detects a previous xp installation and asks if you want to do a
repair install. Once done, you're good to go.

In otherwords, would a Motherboard (and CPU) upgrade require basically
starting all over software wise?

A fresh install would be the best option, but as I wrote above, not the
only one.

Thanks for any experienced insight from any of you "veterans" out there.

Matt

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Conor]

We are a dealer and have found that doing a repair installation of Windows
XP immediately after installing the new motherboard works ~75% of
the time.

Seconded. Bit of a hit and miss affair and the only way to find out is
to try it. At worst, you'll need to do a repair install and repatch the
system.

 

[Mattrixx]

Seconded. Bit of a hit and miss affair and the only way to find out is
to try it. At worst, you'll need to do a repair install and repatch the
system.


--
Conor

"You're not married, you haven't got a girlfriend and you've never seen
Star Trek? Good Lord!" - Patrick Stewart, Extras.

Thanks guys for your replies to my post.

Sounds like a plan, that is: replace MB and try a REPAIR installation.
At what point are any Asus MB drivers inserted? Will the repair installation
request them during the process?

My (Christmas present) Asus AV8 deluxe MB does have RAID controller(s)
however, my previous board did not, consequently I plan on connecting my
present IDE HDD`s conventionally, at least until I acquire SATA drives. Same
AGP video card, but built on NIC and AUDIO available on new board, whereas I
have previously used PCI cards.

Any concerns here with a repair installation?

Thanks again for your responses.
Matt

 

[Conor]

Sounds like a plan, that is: replace MB and try a REPAIR installation.
At what point are any Asus MB drivers inserted?

Once installation is finished and you've logged in for the first time.

Will the repair installation
request them during the process?

The onyl thing that may need drivers is the SATA controller if you're
planning on using that.

My (Christmas present) Asus AV8 deluxe MB does have RAID controller(s)
however, my previous board did not, consequently I plan on connecting my
present IDE HDD`s conventionally, at least until I acquire SATA drives. Same
AGP video card, but built on NIC and AUDIO available on new board, whereas I
have previously used PCI cards.

Any concerns here with a repair installation?

You may need to press f6 and install SATA drivers.

 

[John Doe]

It`s been about 3 years since I did a major upgrade of my
computer.
I'm considering replacement of my motherboard and CPU.
Other than that damn Windows Product Activation,

It's only a problem if you don't have the patch "WPA_Kill". There is
a patch for Windows Updates too.

Windows product activation mainly only hurts users in the United
States since our government is the only government that really cares
whether Microsoft maintains its personal computer desktop
stranglehold. The other countries with intellectual-property law can
simply turn the other cheek and forget about enforcement. And the
rest of countries don't even have intellectual-property law. We have
a serious problem that needs to be openly discussed and resolved
with respect to intellectual-property. And it's a truly fascinating
problem, in my opinion. Windows Product Activation is the New World
Order tax on America.

I am wondering if I can
replace my Epox MB (socketA) and XP T-Bred 2400+ with an Asus MB
(socket 939) and Athlon64 3700+ CPU,
and still *MAINTAIN* all my Programs and data which are scattered
amongst three separate HDD`s?

Your data should be backed up to removable media. If you have hard
drives with important data which is not backed up, you're making a
mistake and should immediately make a copy of all important data.

 

[DaveW]

IF you change the motherboard in a system that has XP loaded on the
harddrive, then you MUST reformat the harddrive after replacing the
motherboard and do a fresh install of XP. Otherwise you will get ongoing
Registry errors and data corruption.

 

[David Maynard]

IF you change the motherboard in a system that has XP loaded on the
harddrive, then you MUST reformat the harddrive after replacing the
motherboard and do a fresh install of XP. Otherwise you will get ongoing
Registry errors and data corruption.

DaveW is back to his ignorant nonsense and it isn't for the lack of people
telling him how to do it.

 

[spodosaurus]

IF you change the motherboard in a system that has XP loaded on the
harddrive, then you MUST reformat the harddrive after replacing the
motherboard and do a fresh install of XP. Otherwise you will get ongoing
Registry errors and data corruption.

This is the only thing DaveW ever posts, and it's bullshit.

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[dawg]

Not. It is possible to replace a motherboard without formatting. ou can
delete all chipset/mobo references in the Device manager including onboard
sound/nic etc..Uninstall any chipset drivers through add/delete. Shutdown.
Replace mobo etc. Reboot and windows will find new HW. It works.

 

[Mattrixx]

Just to let everyone know that was following this thread, I was able to
successfully swap out my old Epox motherboard and replace it with a newer
Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard *WITHOUT* doing a "Repair" Installation, but
rather as "dawg" put it :
"Replace mobo etc. Reboot and windows will find new HW.

After getting everything in order, (loading some new MB drivers etc.) I was
also able to Re-Activate Windows without so much as a peep from Bill.
I am temporarily foregoing using SATA or any RAID controllers, but just
wanted to get this up and running. I will approach those issues at a later
date!

I kept the hardware as close to original config as possible including NIC
and Audio, rather than onboard. I had a problem with my LCD monitor and had
to temporarily revert to a CRT in order to see /get initially into the BIOS,
and also finish first loading of Windows and eventually the drivers for the
LCD etc.

Thanks for all your advice and insight.
Matt

 

[JAD]

Just to let everyone know that was following this thread, I was able to
successfully swap out my old Epox motherboard and replace it with a newer
Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard *WITHOUT* doing a "Repair" Installation, but

now boot to safe mode and look at the device manager...hope its not filled
with hardware that doesn't exist, but thats usually what happens