swapping motherboards question - help please?

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bob

I have a P4C800E-Deluxe... that for the second time has burned out the
southbridge... this last time it killed my 250gb mirror and forced me
to use a data recovery company....
I bought a P4P800SE to replace it....
i planned on just swapping mobo's without doing an OS reinstall.
does anyone see a problem with this? I know some hardware may not show
up, so i'll just uninstall it...
anything else?
 
I have a P4C800E-Deluxe... that for the second time has burned out the
southbridge... this last time it killed my 250gb mirror and forced me
to use a data recovery company....
I bought a P4P800SE to replace it....
i planned on just swapping mobo's without doing an OS reinstall.
does anyone see a problem with this? I know some hardware may not show
up, so i'll just uninstall it...
anything else?
Click to expand...

Assuming you're running Windows XP. what you need to do is a 'repair
install'. See here:

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Repair_Windows_XP-t138.html

or here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

It works, I just did one.
 
The only occassions I know of where it does or may not work are:

OEM XP that is BIOS locked,
Badly spyware / Malware infected systems.
Certain Windows 2003 *Server* scenarios where this will invalidate domain /
AD / Certificate data.

OEM XP with BIOS lock is most unlikely as these (P4P800 / P4C800) are retail
boards.

People can stuff the process up by trying to boot the un-repaired XP on the
new motherboard and manually trying to rectify things, then trying to do the
repair - this is just an expectation as some people do registry hacks and
all sorts of 'I know Windows better than MS stuff' and stuff things up.

So, take a backup - preferrably a partition Image with separate application
data backup, do the repair, and BOL. If it fails restore and reconsider your
options.
 
is there really that much difference between the two boards i'm
swapping though???
i think everything is pretty much the same
 
IF you change the motherboard that has been used with a harddrive that has a
Windows OS on it, then you MUST reformat the harddrive and do a fresh
install of the OS. Otherwise you can look forward to ongoing nasty Registry
errors and data corruption.
 
DaveW said:
IF you change the motherboard that has been used with a harddrive that has
a Windows OS on it, then you MUST reformat the harddrive and do a fresh
install of the OS. Otherwise you can look forward to ongoing nasty
Registry errors and data corruption.
Click to expand...

Absolute unadulterated bullshit!!!!

I went from an abit nf7-s to an asus A8N-SLI with no problems

Now if I had a via chipset going to an nvidia chipset or vice versa you
might be right
 
No there isn't -ones Intel 865 chipset, the other is 875 - under the hood
these two cjips are likely to be the same thing with the 865 being simply a
trimmed back 875. I forget the precise details... so I agree with you.

But, to remove doubt I would still do a repair as it is quite a non event
and re-install mobo / chipset drivers etc - you will know things are 100%
then and not have cause to doubt every STOP you might recieve in the future
is caused by 30 minutes haste.

If you already have XP SP2 installed and your CD is SP 1, make sure you
either
a) have an SP2 CD at hand to install after the chipset drivers and *before*
reconnecting to the internet - if you do not have a strong h/w firewall. Or,
b) slipstream SP2 onto your current CD and use that for the repair - google
for Slipstrem, nLite works, you also have the chance of integrating any h/w
drivers (EG RAID) that yo may otherwise need to install by F6 - but this is
not a time to experiment really.

Just be careful about internet connection - remove it if your issue CD is
not SP2 integrated.
 
Absolute unadulterated bullshit!!!!

I went from an abit nf7-s to an asus A8N-SLI with no problems

Now if I had a via chipset going to an nvidia chipset or vice versa you
might be right
Click to expand...

Nah - probably not - I just went from an ECS K7S5A w/SIS chipset to an
ASUS A8N-SLi with no real problems.
 
yeah, i'm at xp sp2 right now....
i'll have to make a slipstream cd

i think it might be ok to swap the hardware... simply b/c the things
on the p4c800e that make it different than the p4p, i'm not using..

not using the promise controller, it's disabled.
onboard audio disabled also...

and since the southbridge is the same, all i'm worried about is the
865 vs 875 difference, i think
 
Nah - probably not - I just went from an ECS K7S5A w/SIS chipset to an
ASUS A8N-SLi with no real problems.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same experience here as Lon Leader's. Using the Repair
Windows XP option, I recently went from an Asus P4T533-C with an Intel
850E chipset to an Abit BH6 with an Intel 440 BX chipset with no
problems. (Because the Asus mobo died, I had to go back to an even
older Abit mobo I happen to own)

The tricky part in the Repair Windows XP procedure was, for me, that I
had to hit F6 in the beginning of the process and load drivers for my
Promise controller card from a floppy. (But that's no different than
what I'd do in a fresh install). After that, everything went pretty
smooth. I checked Device Manager and everything in there was OK; and
the only app that gave me a problem was Adobe Acrobat, which I
reinstalled.

I think it's more accurate (and less provocative) to say that a
reformat and fresh OS install is a good idea when you switch mobos, or
even that it's recommended. To say that one "MUST" reformat is too
strong a statement.

When I get a new motherboard in the near fuure, I plan on doing
another Repair Windows XP, unless I decide to purchase a new drive
too. Since a new drive is usually faster, that's generally when I
elect to do a fresh install of Windows XP (onto the new drive). I seem
to be getting a new drive every couple years, so it's not as though I
never do a fresh OS install. But in this case I'm formatting an empty
drive, not reformatting a drive full of data, prior to installing
WinXP.

Philly
 
If a system is kept clean and tidy -virus free and spyware is kept under
control, the user knows how to deinstall apps correctly and does not have
bad surfing / email habits, then there a Repair is a great time saver as it
leaves the system as is.

I do advocate minimalism - least apps to get the job done ==> least CD's /
keys to get lost, least work in an emergency install (EG dead HDD) and so on
and that a new motherboard is a good time to build from new and prove data
backup strategies, what you think is installed / needed vs. what is.

Unfortunately it is the dead motherboard or heatsink fell off the Athlon
1600 CPU (yes it did, bang, smoke) scenarios that demand ASAP getting the
system backup ==> Repair OS install.

2 cents.
 
I made the slipstream cd... but something must have gone wrong... i
get a txtsetup.sni or maybe it was .snf...
anyway, says it's corrupt and won't load the cd..

i went ahead and let windows load.... I got desperate.
the OS came up, detected all the appropriate hardware... and is
running fine.

Is there any reason I should still reinstall?

ALSO when I load up, I get Asus Probe alerts.. the +12V reading, is
showing as 15.503.

thoughts?
 
Take a look at the offending file in the and compare it to the latest on
either the SP2 install or the original CD.

The file could have been corrupted reading off the original Windows XP CD,
off the SP2 - if is in there, when copying to your SS CD, or wen reading the
CD during the Repair process.

If its the .inf file I think it is then it contains the directives of what
to copy where so has to be correct. I would recreate the SS CD check the
file looks ok and rerun the repair.

What tool did you use for the SS process? nLite seems reliable. Manual is
reliable but requires you to rectreate the ISO Image which is an extra step.
 
bob said:
I made the slipstream cd... but something must have gone wrong... i
get a txtsetup.sni or maybe it was .snf...
anyway, says it's corrupt and won't load the cd..

i went ahead and let windows load.... I got desperate.
the OS came up, detected all the appropriate hardware... and is
running fine.

Is there any reason I should still reinstall?

ALSO when I load up, I get Asus Probe alerts.. the +12V reading, is
showing as 15.503.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

I had this problem with my P5P800 so it might be your version of PC
Probe. I use Speedfan as MBM 5 also has the same problem.
 
i used isoblaster, and nero 7

Take a look at the offending file in the and compare it to the latest on
either the SP2 install or the original CD.

The file could have been corrupted reading off the original Windows XP CD,
off the SP2 - if is in there, when copying to your SS CD, or wen reading the
CD during the Repair process.

If its the .inf file I think it is then it contains the directives of what
to copy where so has to be correct. I would recreate the SS CD check the
file looks ok and rerun the repair.

What tool did you use for the SS process? nLite seems reliable. Manual is
reliable but requires you to rectreate the ISO Image which is an extra step.
Click to expand...
 
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