Replace MB without re-installing?

**Jeff316** · January 10th, 2005, 09:26 AM

Hi All -

I have a nice new shiney board, processor and ram on the way and was wondering if it would be possible to replace the board on my PC without doing a re-format/re-install of windows. Last time I tried it (1999) it did not go very well and I ended up having to re-install anyway.

I'm running winXP pro - I know I'll have to activate it again but that isn't a problem.

My thought was to boot into safe mode and remove all of the devices, then install the new stuff - on re-boot windows would (hopefully) notice the hardware and life would be good.

**the boss** · January 10th, 2005, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by Jeff316

Hi All -

I have a nice new shiney board, processor and ram on the way and was wondering if it would be possible to replace the board on my PC without doing a re-format/re-install of windows. Last time I tried it (1999) it did not go very well and I ended up having to re-install anyway.

I'm running winXP pro - I know I'll have to activate it again but that isn't a problem.

My thought was to boot into safe mode and remove all of the devices, then install the new stuff - on re-boot windows would (hopefully) notice the hardware and life would be good.

IF and this is only an IF , the chipset is the same , you might get away with it.

if it is a different chipset , it will prob just crash , so a repair or reinstall will be called for

**geoscomp** · January 10th, 2005, 09:53 AM

rather than just removing all the devices, change what you can to the basic windows drivers..i.e. standard video adapter, etc. The biggest thing is the chipset driver. I have had some surprises updating boards lately..some are no prob at all even with different chipsets..some with the same chipset are problematic and need the repair install

**techs** · January 10th, 2005, 10:26 AM

You have much better chance with WinXP than with Win98!

**meatwad** · January 10th, 2005, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by techs

You have much better chance with WinXP than with Win98!

Wow. I was going to say the opposite.

**the boss** · January 10th, 2005, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by techs

You have much better chance with WinXP than with Win98!

in 98 , you just delete the ENUM key and reboot ,98 then finds new parts

in xp BSOD full stop

**Jeff316** · January 10th, 2005, 10:52 AM

Thanks for the quick responses, wow.

this will be a totally different chipset (going from an Athlon XP Via KT266a Chipset to an A64 on an Nvidia NF3 board).

I would agree with meatwad (where's shake?) in that I would assume win98 would be be an easier OS to do this with, but that is what I was running in 1999 and that was a F_ugly mess. Thinking about it though XP does have the repair option and is probably a lot "smarter" than 98 as far as hardware detection goes...

I was wondering if a repair install would just overlay the system files and not actually change the drivers/devices defined to the system. If a repair install would fix the device issues and allow me to keep all of my apps that would be OK for me - I'm only really worried about HL2 and my wife's iTunes Library!)

I'm going to back up the important stuff to DVDR first anyway, better safe than sorry.

**the boss** · January 10th, 2005, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by Jeff316

Thanks for the quick responses, wow.

this will be a totally different chipset (going from an Athlon XP Via KT266a Chipset to an A64 on an Nvidia NF3 board).

I would agree with meatwad (where's shake?) in that I would assume win98 would be be an easier OS to do this with, but that is what I was running in 1999 and that was a F_ugly mess. Thinking about it though XP does have the repair option and is probably a lot "smarter" than 98 as far as hardware detection goes...

I was wondering if a repair install would just overlay the system files and not actually change the drivers/devices defined to the system. If a repair install would fix the device issues and allow me to keep all of my apps that would be OK for me - I'm only really worried about HL2 and my wife's iTunes Library!)

I'm going to back up the important stuff to DVDR first anyway, better safe than sorry.

back up would be your best option , also have a wander around and get the latest drivers for modem/lan card/video/ etc etc , also get latest spybot/adaware/ and avg , so that you can install them before going on the net to get MS updates etc

a clean install would be nice and fresh

hope it works out

**Ferrit** · January 10th, 2005, 11:06 AM

Allways back up first
I do this all the time and have been very successfull doing it
I go to the device manager and remove anything that will be removed when the old motherboard is taken out.
IE: onboard sound ,onboard video ,onboard USB,onboard firewire,network card.
I also go to the add remove programs and remove any corresponding programs like sound card installs, video card installs etc etc
Also chipset installs say like VIA 4 in 1 drivers
Once this is all done shutdown change out the board chip and ram hook everything up and then
start and go directly to the bios
Set the machine to boot directly to the cdrom and be sure the Win XPPRO cd is in there.
The go directly to the second repair option off the xppro cd and do a repair install
It will require activation but i am abot 98 % successfull

**GHSTECH** · January 10th, 2005, 10:20 PM

The main driver to change is the harddrive controller, change it to standard ide, also the chipset drivers like agp, and pci bus, etc. all to standard can help. Oddly, SP2 also seems to help, it seems that the HAL files have been "tweaked" to allow for more flexablity.

**Jeff316** · January 17th, 2005, 09:38 AM

Hi All-

I got my parts in Friday and installed them Friday night.

1. I removed all of the devices in device manager and then shut down. Installed the new stuff, and powered back on. PC came up but would not go into windows (kept rebooting).

2. Booted from CD and did a re-install with the repair option. Went smoothly except the new nic was not detected and I could not activate XP via the internet. I tried to call the toll free number and it was down (this was 1:00AM CST). I could not get to the desktop to do anything. I tried calling Saturday morning and activated by phone no problem, got to the desktop and then installed the drivers for the MB. Life was good.

3. A few apps were hosed: AVG7 probably the most critical one. Reinstall of course fixed it right up. Also had to reactivate office but no biggie.

I'm going to let it burn in a while and then look at doing some tweaking/overclocking. Thanks for the advice and moral support.

J

**TripleRLtd** · January 17th, 2005, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by meatwad

Wow. I was going to say the opposite.

And you'd be right.

**the boss** · January 17th, 2005, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by TripleRLtd

And you'd be right.

so did i

**TripleRLtd** · January 17th, 2005, 11:25 AM

I know.

Ferrit hit the nail on the head. It is doable >95% of the time.

**techs** · January 17th, 2005, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by meatwad

Wow. I was going to say the opposite.

I have done the WinXP thing about ten times with 9 perfect. Win98 my experience has been about 40 percent (though I have done 98 a lot more, about 50-60 times)