changing mother board

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jerry Allen
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J

Jerry Allen

Is there anything i need todo or know to change mother board and processer
and continue to use my old hard drive WINDOWS XP

Thanks
 
Jerry said:
Is there anything i need todo or know to change mother board and processer
and continue to use my old hard drive WINDOWS XP

Thanks
Click to expand...


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore *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

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

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

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
Jerry Allen said:
Is there anything i need todo or know to change mother board and processer
and continue to use my old hard drive WINDOWS XP

Thanks
Click to expand...

If your Windows XP is a BIOS Locked OEM version then you may not be
able to do this unless the motherboard is from the same
manufacturer/assembler as the original computer.

To determine if your computer has an OEM version of Windows XP open
Control Panel - System - General and look at the 20 character Product
I.D. code shown on the last line of the "Registered to:" section of
the window. Note that this Product I.D. code is not the same as the
Product Key that is used to install Windows XP. If the second segment
(3 characters) of the Product I.D. code is OEM then your Windows XP is
an OEM version. If it is numeric then your Windows XP is a retail or
volume license version.

To determine if your OEM version of Windows XP is BIOS Locked use
Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools and check for an
"Activate Windows" menu item. If there is no "Activate Windows" item
on the System Tools menu then your OEM version is BIOS locked. Note
that other versions of Windows, such as Volume Licenses, also do not
have the Activate Windows item on the System Tools menu. It is both
the presence of the OEM in the Product I.D. and the absence of the
Activate Windows menu item that combine to identify the BIOS Locked
OEM versions.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
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