xp compatibility/New Motherboard

[Guest]

I have a Dell Dimension 2350. I would like to upgrade the video with an agp
video card. Unfortunately the 2350 does not have an agp slot. I was planning
on replacing the motherboard with an asus p4p800-vm. During my research I
came across some issues.
If you do not buy the motherboard from Dell, your Dell XP restore or
recovery disks will not work. They need to find the identification "tattoo"
of Dell on the motherboard before they will install XP.
Is anyone familiar with this issue?
Will this missing "tattoo" also stop the windows xp from running even if i
do not reinstall the software. I was planning on leaving the hard drive as
is. (With os and software identical to pre-motherboard replacement)
I believe the xp license is mine to use on that machine. Motherboard
replacement should not void my license, shouold it???

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

After a motherboard replacement, a Repair Installation is usually
necessary to properly detect the new hardware:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm
You probably will not get around reinstalling Windows.

However your Dell CD will probably not work with a non-Dell
motherboard.
The license is yours to use, however Dell and other OEMs make it
difficult if not impossible to use with other hardware.

Read your Windows XP EULA and contact Dell for details.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have a Dell Dimension 2350. I would like to upgrade the video with
an agp video card. Unfortunately the 2350 does not have an agp slot.
I was planning on replacing the motherboard with an asus p4p800-vm.
During my research I came across some issues.
If you do not buy the motherboard from Dell, your Dell XP restore or
recovery disks will not work. They need to find the identification
"tattoo" of Dell on the motherboard before they will install XP.
Is anyone familiar with this issue?
Will this missing "tattoo" also stop the windows xp from running
even
if i do not reinstall the software. I was planning on leaving the
hard drive as is. (With os and software identical to pre-motherboard
replacement)
I believe the xp license is mine to use on that machine. Motherboard
replacement should not void my license, shouold it???

You may be about to run up against the biggest limitation of an
OEM license, and the primary reason it costs so much less than a
retail license: its non-transferability. Because the OEM manufacturer
is contractually bound to provide all support for any OEM license that
they distribute, they're legally entitled to determine when that
license is no longer being used on their product. Replacing a Dell
motherboard with a non-Dell product would definitely void your
warranty and vacate, from Dell's point-of-view, and rights you had to
use the software distributed with their computer.

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses 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

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

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