current mobo broke but is discontinued - waht to do

[HansBbans]

hey everyone, my current mobo(a chaintech vnf3-250) just recently died and i need to replace it. i cant rma cuz the warranty has expired and i need to get a new one. is it ok for my system to get any socket 754 mobo? im not really sure how this works.

 

[BassBomb]

you would have to reformat most likely, if u do that u can get annnny motherboard... id reccomend u format anyways

 

[HansBbans]

is it possible to run windows at all with a new motherboard just for a bit? there are some files id like to pull off.

 

[fighterpilot]

You could probably boot into safe mode, but if you have access to another PC, just hook up your hard drive to another PC and pull files off that way.

Windows would probably run with a new mobo installed, just that you may have conflicting driver files, but it should run, at least after doing a driver install dance.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

If you don't have access to a second PC to use as a receiver for the files when the drive is added as a slave, you can perform a "Repair Install" from the W2K or XP CD's (which did you say it was? (You didn't, it seems.)

I've not done it in W2K, but I understand it's not glitch proof, so if it's W2K, you may end up reformatting anyway, but perhaps not before recovering the files. If you replace the NF3 with a similar MB, not necessarily the exact same MB, but another NF3 of some variety, you might be able to go on as if nothing at all had happened.