Motherboard replacement

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Guest

Hi all,

I'm replacing motherboard and CPU in a few days, and was just wondering what
exactly is involved afterwards i.e. will I need to re-activate or re-install
windows?

I'm moving from a Pentium 4 HT 2.8gHz to a Pentium D 3.0gHz
 
Definately you will will have to re-activate but also you may need to
reinstall. You may also get away with a repair install. My question though
is this, why upgrade to a 3ghz from a 2.8ghz
The performance increase will be so small you may not even notice. you
would get a better performance by adding an extra 512mb ram.

Regards

John
 
pushpop said:
Hi all,

I'm replacing motherboard and CPU in a few days, and was just wondering what
exactly is involved afterwards i.e. will I need to re-activate or re-install
windows?

I'm moving from a Pentium 4 HT 2.8gHz to a Pentium D 3.0gHz
Click to expand...

If it's the same brand motherboard as before, you may not need to
reinstall Windows or activate. I just did that a week ago. If the
motherboard is a different make, you will probably have to reinstall or
do a repair install of Windows and reactivate.

Alias
 
Clock speed between HT & D is not comparable

See - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_myth

Also you are probably right that a repair install may be need to properly
address the new hardware (last time I change mobo I got lucky and didn't
need to do any reinstall - just a quick telephone reactivate...

Mac
 
You may get away with a "Repair" without re-activating. Remove any software
to do with the old m/b before taking it out and after the repair install the
chipset drivers etc. for the new one.
 
Brand is sort of irrelevant....

It's the chipset of the motherboard that really makes the main difference.
Typically, sticking with the same chipset manufacturer lessens the chance
that a repair install is necessary...

A motherboard swap that involves 2 different chipsets will almost certainly
require a repair install.

--
Jason Tsang - Microsoft MVP

More information by me
http://jtsang.mvps.org
http://www.classicsunveiled.com

Find out about the MS MVP Program -
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx
 
Jason said:
Brand is sort of irrelevant....

It's the chipset of the motherboard that really makes the main difference.
Typically, sticking with the same chipset manufacturer lessens the chance
that a repair install is necessary...

A motherboard swap that involves 2 different chipsets will almost certainly
require a repair install.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't really know. All I know is it worked :-) I did, for some
reason, have to reconfigure the XP fax.

Alias
 
I recently upgraded from an Asus A7N8X/Athlon 2500 to Gigabyte
GA-K8NSC-939/Athlon 64-3200, also new video card.
Removed all Asus software, installed new parts, booted from XP CD, ran a
"repair" and all went smoothly.
 
pushpop said:
Hi all,

I'm replacing motherboard and CPU in a few days, and was just wondering what
exactly is involved afterwards i.e. will I need to re-activate or re-install
windows?

I'm moving from a Pentium 4 HT 2.8gHz to a Pentium D 3.0gHz
Click to expand...

When Windows is installed it installs all sorts of MBRD drivers.

If you replace the MBRD for an identical one then it'll be fine.

If you replace the MBRD with one with the same chipset, (so it'd be a
very similar MBRD) then I think it'd be fine. Though perhaps you may
need to install or replace some drivers with the CD that came with the
new MBRD.

But if you install a different MBRD, typically - dfifferent chipset,
then you have to reinstall.

You'll find out soon enough. After changing the MBRD, put the old HDD
in and you'll see it probably won't make it into windows. If it
amazingly does, and it's a diferent MBRD chipset, then ti'll prob have
confused windows a bit and things won't run so smoothly.


Processor won't change things as far as causing you to have to or not
have to reinstall windows I think.
 
pushpop said:
Hi all,

I'm replacing motherboard and CPU in a few days, and was just wondering what
exactly is involved afterwards i.e. will I need to re-activate or re-install
windows?

I'm moving from a Pentium 4 HT 2.8gHz to a Pentium D 3.0gHz
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
 
Bruce Chambers wrote:
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.
<snip>
Click to expand...

With Win 9X can you just move the HDD to any computer/MBRD?

(no need to reinstall windows)
 
Bruce Chambers wrote:


With Win 9X can you just move the HDD to any computer/MBRD?

(no need to reinstall windows)
Click to expand...

Only if the installed drivers support the new motherboard/computer. Win
9x was way more unstable than anything we have now. I go months without
having to reboot any of my XP computers or even getting a fault of some
type, on 9x it was a weekly event at best.
 
Leythos said:
Only if the installed drivers support the new motherboard/computer.
Click to expand...

after installing windows is complete. Before installing any further
MBRD drivers from a CD. Is it customized for that MBRD at that early
stage?

I'm guessing that it's possible to uninstall MBRD drivers installed
after the windows installation. But the ones installed During the
windows installation, are more ingrained and harder to uninstall.

This is all guesswork on my part.
Win 9x was way more unstable than anything we have now. I go months without
having to reboot any of my XP computers or even getting a fault of some
type, on 9x it was a weekly event at best.
Click to expand...

I never need to have my comp on for a week. But I never had Win 98
crash because of a CDROM or CDROM drive had a 'bad block'. And the
default is pretty bad. No BSOD in that instance. Either a restart (ok
if i'm runing as server). Or the whole screen freezes. There are
instances with win 98 where a carsh occurs, even a BSOD, but it's
possible to press any key and return. I do notice that Win XP also
automatically restarts explorer.exe and so sometimes successfully
recovers from a crash. I just think you're overestimating Win XP's
reliability.
There are things going wrong all the time, in event logs.


The IP address lease 192.168.1.64 for the Network Card with network
address 00A0C9398856 has been denied by the DHCP server 192.168.1.1
(The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


And here's the killer one that sometimes causes the computer to freeze
The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.
....
Data:
0000: 03 00 68 00 01 00 b8 00 ..h...¸.
....


For some reason I don't get that bad block one anymore. I can't
remember if i changed the cd drive or something.

So, my point is these are Red Errors/Crosses that seem to often cause
windows XP(NT)to Freeze. The bad block error certainly caused a freeze
when I had that problem.


So, you won't see me raving about how Win XP is so much more reliable
than Win 98SE.


A friend once shows me Win XP, he saidi t never crashes. I looked at
it, moved the mouse, I think I clicked no "my computer", didn't do
much, and it crashed - froze.
 
A friend once shows me Win XP, he saidi t never crashes. I looked at
it, moved the mouse, I think I clicked no "my computer", didn't do
much, and it crashed - froze.
Click to expand...

Seems like you have the Midas touch ;-)

Alias
 
So, you won't see me raving about how Win XP is so much more reliable
than Win 98SE.
Click to expand...

If your computer is not more stable than with Windows 98SE, when running
Windows XP + SP2, then you've go some serious hardware issues on that
machine.

When I moved from 98SE to Windows 2000 I almost never had any problems
with 2000, when I moved from 2000 to XP all my problems went away. I
have a bunch of machines in my home and at clients locations across the
country, none of them have any faults that happen on any regular basis,
in fact, with the exception of some crappy third party pharmacy
software, they never experience any faults, and they leave their
machines running 24/7/365.

If you buy crappy hardware or have malware on your machine, it will be
unstable.
 
Leythos said:
If your computer is not more stable than with Windows 98SE, when running
Windows XP + SP2, then you've go some serious hardware issues on that
machine.

When I moved from 98SE to Windows 2000 I almost never had any problems
with 2000, when I moved from 2000 to XP all my problems went away. I
have a bunch of machines in my home and at clients locations across the
country, none of them have any faults that happen on any regular basis,
in fact, with the exception of some crappy third party pharmacy
software, they never experience any faults, and they leave their
machines running 24/7/365.

If you buy crappy hardware or have malware on your machine, it will be
unstable.

--
Click to expand...

No malware. Win98SE ran on the same hardware. Win XP installed fresh.

It was a hardware problem. But Win XP was more sensitive to it than Win
98SE.

I never had Win 98 SE complaining about a cdrom bad block. Yet Win XP
froze from it.

Many people were comfortable with Win 98SE, then installed XP and had
to deal with the whole freezing thing for one reason or another. (or
the restarting thing)

Initially, one wouldn't know whether the mouse/keyb had stopped
responding, or whether it was a real crash. (besides checking event
logs which can only be done afterwards, a good way to see immediately
if it's mouse/keyb or a screen freeze, is to watch if the clock moves).
Thats not in any documentation either.

Anyhow, I told you , the crash was reported as ***as CDROM having a bad
block*** that is not malware.

Win XP runs stable now, but so did Win 98 SE.

I'm not saying that 98 is more stable than XP. Or vice versa. Many of
Win 98s crashes one could recovery from by restarting explorer.exe,
which is exactly what Win XP does. That in particular makes people
think that Win XP magically recovers from a crash and Win 98 couldn't.
That is a big motivator behind people raving about how Win XP is more
reliable.

I'm willing to believe that Win XP is more reliable, but i've seen
that's not always the case, and many people experienced with Win 98 had
it running Very reliably.
 
If you don't know, then why are you stating it as fact? No answer at all is
better than a wrong answer.
Motherboard make/model has nothing to do with it, it is the IDE controller
chipset, and there's a simple way around it if you ARE changing chipsets by
using an add on ide controller.
 
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