Do I need to reinstall Windows XP if I change a motherboard?

[devanand50]

Hi,

I have an ASUS P5W Deluxe motherboard and it has been giving me problems - will not boot up at the first start - but after 2 or 3 tries - it would boot up. I have bought a Gigabyte motherboard and was wondering if I will have to format my C drive after installing the new motherboard and reload Windows XP or just change the the motherboard and load the new drivers for the motherboard? Any HELP is welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I've successfully kept an existing install when changing motherboards to another brand with the same chipset. Every time I've changed chipsets I've needed a reinstall.

 

[Miramonti]

Like GagHalfrunt said, if its the same chipset it may be fine, and I would bet that it will be. Iirc its worked for me at times with different chipsets as well, altho when changing cpu brands its better to reinstall imo.

 

[Harvey]

As others have posted, you MAY get away with it if your new board has the same chipset, but since you said you're having problems, you'll be much better off if you do a clean reinstall XP. The very best way to do it would be to buy a second drive the same size as your first one or larger and install Windows on the new drive. When you've got your base installation, you can connect your current drive as a slave and transfer all your files.

If possible, efore you start, if you can get your current setup to boot, even in Safe Mode, use the export utilities from your browser's bookmarks, address book, etc. you can import them into your new setup.

If possible, before you start, download installation files for programs you want to have running from the start, including the latest drivers for your vid card and anything else that needs a current driver, your favorite firewall and spyware removers.

Another program that will help is a good registry cleaner, such as WinDoctor (part of Norton SystemWorks) or Registry Mechanic.

Another program that can save your butt is Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image. Once you have your base installation and you've transferred your files, you can use one of these programs to clone your original drive (or any other drive) as a backup of each step as you complete it. That way, if the next step screws things up, you can restore your drive back to the last good step in the procedure.

It takes just a few minutes to Ghost your drive, and it will save you hours if something happens that would otherwise make you have to start over.

I suggest the following:

1. Install Windows on the new drive. DO NOT have the machine online, and DO NOT activate it immediately.

2. Install the drivers for your new motherboard.

3. Connect your original drive as a slave, makespecial folders on your new drive, and transfer all of your files to those folders, including the utilities, drivers and files for your exported addresses, bookmarks, etc.

4. Install your drivers, anti-virus program, firewall, spyware removers, etc, and, if you have one, run your registry cleaner.

5. Ghost your drive.

6. Now that you have an AV prog and firewall installed, it's as safe as you can get to go online. Connect to the Internet, activate Windows, get all updates for your AV and your spyware removers.

7. Get offline, and run your AV program, spyware removers and registry cleaner.

8. Ghost your drive.

9. Reboot, go back online, and start getting your Windows updates. After EACH reboot, run your spyware removers and registry cleaner, and Ghost your drive.

10. Continue until you have all your Windows updates.

11. Now, you can start installing your software... and YES, run your registry cleaner and spyware removers after EACH installation. If you install Microsoft Office or a later version of Windows Media Player, you'll find more security updates in Windows, itself, as well as updates for those programs.

12. Continue to run your spyware removers and registry cleaner and Ghost your drive after each update.

I hope that helps.

 

[compcons]

Boot from CD. Pick install (not repair). Win disk will search for previous versions and then come up with a list. THEN pick repair installation and it should work out just fine. If you google install XP new motherboard (or some such) there is a good walk through.

EH

 

[WazzaUK]

Well... ive managed to get a few running with different chipsets - but as a rule of thumb - if its a new mobo fresh install is always the best way...

When installing XP - select the option "Remove previous installation", that way you dont lose much except c:\windows and c:\program files - in most cases it leaves the documents and settings alone...