New Mobo / Processor - OS Question

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ck26

I've been told by my hardware store that upgrading my motherboard and
processor might screw up my OS (in my case windows 2000) to the point that I
would need to re-install the OS (I think mainly they said because of the
motherboard). Is this true? What reasons? I've already downloaded in
preparation the drivers for the motherboard (ASRock K7VT2 with 1.4 duron).
Is there any other way I can prepare for the change and to avoid a
re-install? I thought it would be a simple case of plugging the HD in and
installing the drivers through windows wizards as it detected the changes...

If I did need a re-install - its not going to mess up to the extent that my
existing partitions which contain non-OS or program dependent data on it,
will be trashed also, is it? I'm sure not - but I would like some
reassurance first! (I have of course backed up anyway).
 
ck26 said:
I've been told by my hardware store that upgrading my motherboard and
processor might screw up my OS (in my case windows 2000) to the point that I
would need to re-install the OS (I think mainly they said because of the
motherboard). Is this true? What reasons? I've already downloaded in
preparation the drivers for the motherboard (ASRock K7VT2 with 1.4 duron).
Is there any other way I can prepare for the change and to avoid a
re-install? I thought it would be a simple case of plugging the HD in and
installing the drivers through windows wizards as it detected the changes...

If I did need a re-install - its not going to mess up to the extent that my
existing partitions which contain non-OS or program dependent data on it,
will be trashed also, is it? I'm sure not - but I would like some
reassurance first! (I have of course backed up anyway).
Click to expand...

New mainboard could very well mean fresh install. You might be able to get
away with a "repair" installation, but I'd back up data before doing this
swap.
 
Upgrading your MB or processor will certainly require a fresh install of
windows 2000. A Win 2000 will not run on changed processor speed.
Colin
 
ck26 said:
I've been told by my hardware store that upgrading my motherboard and
processor might screw up my OS (in my case windows 2000) to the point that I
would need to re-install the OS (I think mainly they said because of the
motherboard). Is this true? What reasons? I've already downloaded in
preparation the drivers for the motherboard (ASRock K7VT2 with 1.4 duron).
Is there any other way I can prepare for the change and to avoid a
re-install? I thought it would be a simple case of plugging the HD in and
installing the drivers through windows wizards as it detected the changes...

If I did need a re-install - its not going to mess up to the extent that my
existing partitions which contain non-OS or program dependent data on it,
will be trashed also, is it? I'm sure not - but I would like some
reassurance first! (I have of course backed up anyway).
Click to expand...
It depends on how 'different' your new mobo is from the old one from
on-board devices point of view. If your old board is VIA chipset based as is
the new one then you may get away with it without any problems. If the
chipsets are of different design, say Intel or SiS to VIA then you will
have problems up to possibly Win2k hanging during boot. Booting to safe mode
with the new mobo and installing VIA Hyperion 4in1 drivers may help.
 
Colin said:
Upgrading your MB or processor will certainly require a fresh install of
windows 2000. A Win 2000 will not run on changed processor speed.
Colin
Click to expand...

Yes it will! I upgraded my machine from a 1100MHz Duron to a 1467MHz
Athlon XP without reinstall Win2k, or Linux. The OS's probably won't
like a change of MB though. The change of processor is fine but I
wouldn't be too keen on changing a MB without reinstalling the OS's.
 
ck26 said:
I've been told by my hardware store that upgrading my motherboard and
processor might screw up my OS (in my case windows 2000) to the point that I
would need to re-install the OS (I think mainly they said because of the
motherboard). Is this true? What reasons? I've already downloaded in
preparation the drivers for the motherboard (ASRock K7VT2 with 1.4 duron).
Is there any other way I can prepare for the change and to avoid a
re-install? I thought it would be a simple case of plugging the HD in and
installing the drivers through windows wizards as it detected the changes...

If I did need a re-install - its not going to mess up to the extent that my
existing partitions which contain non-OS or program dependent data on it,
will be trashed also, is it? I'm sure not - but I would like some
reassurance first! (I have of course backed up anyway).
Click to expand...

I upgraded an Asus CUSL2-C with PIII 1 GHz to an Asu P4P800 with P4 2.4 GHz
under W2K (kept the system disk). This means from chipset Inteli815 to Intel
i865. Took a lot of time for W2K to recognize all the new hardware, but it
all went automatically without any problem.
But previously, I upgraded an Asus P3V4X with PIII 1 GHz to the Asus CUSL2-C
with PIII 1 GHz described above. This is from Via to Intel. I had to
reinstall.
So I believe Alien Zord is right and the chipset might define the need to
reinstall.
 
If you replace the motherboard and CPU and do NOT reinstall XP you can end
up with major Registry errors. If you decide to reinstall you'll need to
reformat the harddrive first which will lose ALL of your files, so have the
backup ready.
 
What the F*#K are you talking about ??
processor doesn`t make a lick of difference.....
motherboard change will need a re-install....
repair function is pretty crap... clean install is the way to go if
possible....

Brett.....
 
DaveW said:
If you replace the motherboard and CPU and do NOT reinstall XP you can end
up with major Registry errors.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah? And which "errors" are those?
 
Did you think about the hard drive controllers, floppy controller? or
the USB ones?
Possibly sound, network and video also.
Thought not.
 
Well, the new processor / motherboard change caused no problems at all - I
only had to install two drivers and alter the settings for my mouse but
apart from that nothing wrong at all. I can only assume therefore that the
processor type and chipsets were similar enough not to warrant a massive
repair / re-install. I was considering just reformatting before I plugged it
in, but after backing up and just trying it, I have saved myself a lot of
hassle and would recommend that if you haven't got a lot to lose except for
a few hours of your time, then just try it!
 
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