XP Home, new motherboard

  • Thread starter Thread starter DLangevin
  • Start date Start date
D

DLangevin

My system motherboard died (Intel chipset), the new
motherboard I purchased has a Via Chipset. Windows XP
will not start and I don't know how to resolve this
problem!

Help!
 
DLangevin said:
My system motherboard died (Intel chipset), the new
motherboard I purchased has a Via Chipset. Windows XP
will not start and I don't know how to resolve this
problem!
Click to expand...

If you have a "generic" OEM CD, boot from that and do a
repair installation.

If you have a "recovery" OEM CD, talk to your OEM and see
what he says.
 
Hi, D.

The motherboard/chipset is the heart and brains of the computer, so if
you've replaced that, WinXP thinks it's in a different computer. And it
doesn't know how to boot now. It's as if you were suddenly plopped into a
new home and didn't know how to find the bathroom because it's not where it
was in your old home. WinXP is looking all over for its hard drives, its
memory, its video, even its keyboard, and can't find them.

You'll need to boot from the WinXP CD-ROM to let Setup run again. One of
the first things Setup does is detect the hardware environment, especially
the mobo/chipset; then it configures YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
hardware. Now that the hardware has changed significantly, Setup must be
allowed to re-detect the new environment and reconfigure your copy of WinXP
to fit the new situation. So, follow the instructions BAR gave, or see this
KB article for the official instructions:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

As soon as you finish the in-place upgrade, get your firewall and antivirus
working, then go online to Windows Update to be sure you have the latest
Service Pack and later fixes. Better set aside half a day for the whole
project.

Of course, as the others said, this assumes that you have the retail WinXP
CD-ROM. If your computer came with WinXP pre-installed, then you will
probably need to deal with the computer maker/vendor to see how to get WinXP
installed to work with your new mobo/chipset.

RC
 
Greetings --

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

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also 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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