"Jody said:
I'm running XP Pro SP2 on the P4PE-X motherboard. Today, my new motherboard,
the P4P800 Deluxe will be here. I just formatted not too long ago and I
don't want to do it again. Does anybody know if I'll be able to swap the
boards and have to or not have to format?
What worked for me, on Win2K, was changing the IDE driver to the
default Microsoft one, before transitioning the disk drive to
the new computer. When I first moved my disk, I got a BSOD and
a complaint about not being able to boot from the disk. I found
a suggestion in Google, to change any proprietary IDE driver on
the old computer, to the default Microsoft one. If both computers
have a PATA IDE port on the Southbridge, then chances are you can
move it from one machine to the other.
The next level of transition, is a repair install via booting
using the WinXP CD. You then have to install any service packs
that weren't already on that CD, and any security updates.
But at least, you won't have to do any applications, or lose
your settings.
In any case, it helps a lot to have the two machine still intact,
in case you have to move the disk back and forth, until you
get the recipe right. I cloned my disk, with Partition Magic,
so there would be no chance of losing all the contents in the
transition. That reduces the risks of something happening
via the new hardware.
If you only have enough hardware to have one computer running
at a time, simply assemble the hardware on your table top.
It is a lot easier to swap out the motherboard, if the stuff
is out in the open. In case you need to do some repair work
via the old configuration.
With the Win2K I use, there are no activation issues. I don't
know if Bill Gates will want a phone call for WinXP or not.
HTH,
Paul