Will BIOS update require XP reinstall?

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I'm thinking of updating my pc's mobo BIOS so it will recognize Athlon
dual-core processors. It's an MSI socket 939 but needs the BIOS update for
this. Will a BIOS update be enough of a system change that Windows XP Home
will have to be reinstalled?
 
I Hate OS Reinstalls said:
I'm thinking of updating my pc's mobo BIOS so it will recognize Athlon
dual-core processors. It's an MSI socket 939 but needs the BIOS update for
this. Will a BIOS update be enough of a system change that Windows XP Home
will have to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...

In a word, no.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove 'nospam.' to reply by e-mail*
 
Ok, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it won't make me do a repair install,
either. Thanks, Bob, for your quick reply.
 
I said:
I'm thinking of updating my pc's mobo BIOS so it will recognize Athlon
dual-core processors. It's an MSI socket 939 but needs the BIOS update for
this. Will a BIOS update be enough of a system change that Windows XP Home
will have to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...


Not normally, no. At the most, and usually depending upon how many
other previous hardware changes there have been, you might have to
re-activate. This is normally a quick and painless process, as well.


--

Bruce Chambers

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
I Hate OS Reinstalls said:
I'm thinking of updating my pc's mobo BIOS so it will recognize Athlon
dual-core processors. It's an MSI socket 939 but needs the BIOS update for
this. Will a BIOS update be enough of a system change that Windows XP Home
will have to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...


Others have already answered your question.

One thing to be aware of is that a BIOS upgrade can be touchy. Make sure
that you have a complete backup, on removeable media, of all the important
data on the system before proceeding.
 
I said:
I'm thinking of updating my pc's mobo BIOS so it will recognize Athlon
dual-core processors. It's an MSI socket 939 but needs the BIOS update for
this. Will a BIOS update be enough of a system change that Windows XP Home
will have to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...


Not the BIOS update by itself, but perhaps actually putting in a
Dual-Core processor may be an issue.
 
w/ an AMD motherboard, before doing the bios update check if you have an
APIC (not ACPI) setting in there; note what it is. If you change that
then you will need a different HAL, so check the new bios' setting and
make sure it is the same. [for XP, APIC should be enabled, it allows
additional interrupt request levels, and XP requires it to be enabled in
order to support the ACPI hal].

the APIC option is slowly going away w/ AMD motherboards, so yours may not
have it. if not then no worries...
 
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