Help installing new Mobo with existing win XP

OK, I'm with you now. I get to the PCI/IRQ stuff, but didn't notice the blurp about press any key to boot from the CD--but I could have easily missed it not knowing it was there. When I get home in a few hours, I'll run through it and see if that statement isn't there and see if that doesn't fix my Cd Boot problem.

--UPDATE--

Wasn't able to boot from the CD...I can hit F8 (boot option at post) and select CD, but still get the blue screen. If I disconnect the hard drive from the IDE cable (primary master), it won't blue screen, but it wont boot (nothing to boot from). It does look for something to boot though. I'm kinda new with win XP, so this is kicking my butt. I'm formatting the floppies now so I can try to boot from then...I'll update.

Hey it works!! Used the instal floppies, did a repair instal and all is well...

This is what I think was the problem --

The old mobo had a Via controller on it and my new board had an Sis controller. The problem I think was that the two different controllers were detecting my hard drive differently. The Via said my drive had like 255 heads and the Sis was like 6700 (not sure of the last value, but it was way different). I did have to re-do the registration with MS, but all my old settings etc. were there just like I left them. Thanks for all the great support. I can always get answers at Windrivers! You guys came through again!

Sincerely,
Parrish Jackson

Quote:

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Originally posted by Bug Mekanic
Hey it works!! Used the instal floppies, did a repair instal and all is well...

This is what I think was the problem --

The old mobo had a Via controller on it and my new board had an Sis controller. The problem I think was that the two different controllers were detecting my hard drive differently. The Via said my drive had like 255 heads and the Sis was like 6700 (not sure of the last value, but it was way different). I did have to re-do the registration with MS, but all my old settings etc. were there just like I left them. Thanks for all the great support. I can always get answers at Windrivers! You guys came through again!

Sincerely,
Parrish Jackson

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parrish,

your problem did not lie in how your board detected the hard drive (though that is a bit strange) Your problem was related to how windows XP is designed to work with hardware.

Operating systems built on the windows NT kernel rely on a HAL or Hardware Abstraction Layer. here is a brief definition.

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In computers, a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is a layer of programming that allows a computer operating system to interact with a hardware device at a general or abstract level rather than at a detailed hardware level. Windows 2000 is one of several operating systems that include a hardware abstraction layer. The hardware abstraction layer can be called from either the operating system's kernel or from a device driver. In either case, the calling program can interact with the device in a more general way than it would otherwise.

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This function helps with overall system stability because it doesn't allow direct access to system hardware. Everything is negotiated in that Hardware abstraction layer. Because of the way the technology works, the HAL must be built for your individual PC and it's installed hardware and that happens when you set windows up.

when you changed your motherboard, the HAL that XP had previously built for your old board was no longer valid because you had a much different hardware configuration. hence it would not boot.

By doing a repair install of XP you allowed XP to create a new unique HAL for your new hardware.

just thought you might want to know the root of your problem and the reasoning behind the suggested fixes.