How to: Upgrade your motherboard without reinstalling Windows.

[Phoenix86]

After doing a repair install, make sure to reapply SP2 if that wasn't on the CD you repaired with, and visit windowsupdate to patch the files copied from the CD. Good luck.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: macknattack
Well I've been reading this thread in preparation for exchanging out my optionless mobo for a new/better one.

I finally swapped it out last night and have not had a single moment of happiness since.

I did NOT use sysprep based on the responses in this forum (now wishing i had). I simply changed the HDD controller in windows as suggested above, turned off the computer and installed the new mobo.

When I turned the system back on, I needed to intall my SATA drivers from floppy out of F6, all was ok. The bios recognized the SATA drive (this isnt a RAID array) and proceeded to boot to windows. HERE IS WHERE ALL H*LL BREAKS LOOSE.

Windows begins to boot, then crashes with this error message:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

It then makes some suggestions as for settings to change, try safe mode, blah blah blah.

At the bottom of the BSOD I get this:

SIWINACC.SYS address F7C42000 base at F7C42000

I've tried everything in my little brain that I know about to fix this.

- Reinstall the sata drivers
- Install the NEWEST drivers from the ABIT website
- Run a windows repair through the repair option
- Run a windows repair through the install option
- Change BIOS settings to try and aleve the BSOD

Nothing is working. Im fairly disappointed that these problems have come about after reading this thread. I really REALLY would appreciate any suggestions for help at this point. Windows will not boot into safe mode, data logging mode, etc etc.

My system is an Athlon Socket 754 with an Abit KV8 Pro motherboard. All components were in my old Gigabye NFORCE3 150 mobo for 2 years so I don't think I have any hardware issues. If it was the mobo I wouldnt expect Windows to boot and crash with the same error each time. The OS is XP Pro with SP2 isntalled.

Im hoping for a miracle here, please advise.

Sincerely,

Mack


UPDATE:

I created another XP install on a fresh drive and it installed just fine. Is there any way I can transfer all the system parameters over from the new install onto my old partition? Maybe that is logistically impossible. But I can now access the bad (old) windows directories and make whatever changes you all might suggest.

You had a problem with SIWINACC.SYS. Those drivers look like they were causing your box to BSOD. I'd have put the hard drive back into the old machine (or attached the old hardware as before), installed the newest driver for the hard drive controller on the new motherboard, removed the above SIWINACC.SYS driver, and then put the drive into the new machine.

This was a driver issue. I don't see how Sysprep would have helped you. Below find info on what the error you mentioned means.

_____

Bug Check 0x50: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
The PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA bug check has a value of 0x00000050. This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.

Parameters
The following parameters are displayed on the blue screen.

Parameter Description
1 Memory address referenced
2 0: Read operation

1: Write operation


3 Address that referenced memory (if known)
4 Reserved


If the driver responsible for the error can be identified, its name is printed on the blue screen and stored in memory at the location (PUNICODE_STRING) KiBugCheckDriver.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ hence the issue with the SIS hard drive controller driver

Cause
Bug check 0x50 usually occurs after the installation of faulty hardware or in the event of failure of installed hardware (usually related to defective RAM, be it main memory, L2 RAM cache, or video RAM).

Another common cause is the installation of a faulty system service.

Antivirus software can also trigger this error, as can a corrupted NTFS volume.

Resolving the Problem
Resolving a faulty hardware problem: If hardware has been added to the system recently, remove it to see if the error recurs. If existing hardware has failed, remove or replace the faulty component. You should run hardware diagnostics supplied by the system manufacturer. For details on these procedures, see the owner's manual for your computer.

Resolving a faulty system service problem: Disable the service and confirm that this resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer of the system service about a possible update. If the error occurs during system startup, restart your computer, and press F8 at the character-mode menu that displays the operating system choices. At the resulting Windows Advanced Options menu, choose the Last Known Good Configuration option. This option is most effective when only one driver or service is added at a time.

Resolving an antivirus software problem: Disable the program and confirm that this resolves the error. If it does, contact the manufacturer of the program about a possible update.

Resolving a corrupted NTFS volume problem: Run Chkdsk /f /r to detect and repair disk errors. You must restart the system before the disk scan begins on a system partition. If the hard disk is SCSI, check for problems between the SCSI controller and the disk.

Finally, check the System Log in Event Viewer for additional error messages that might help pinpoint the device or driver that is causing the error. Disabling memory caching of the BIOS might also resolve it.

 

[Googer]

OOPS!

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: dcliveBut I've been clear - for one off changes, I don't see a point in sysprep.

It's supported. I can call MS (granted, who does this very often) and they will listed. However when you *do* need to call them it's usualy important.

Really I'm not *too* interested in what method you use, this is just another tool in the bag of tricks. Thanks for the insight in the thread.

Sysprep is supported for use in deployment scenarios. It is not supported as a means to move any operating system that has been in use for some time to a new hardware platform. Support in this scenario is "best effort" only.

 

[gsellis]

And don't forget USMT before you do it. User State Migration Tool will back up your settings, to a degree, if things go south. You can save the state information to another device for safe keeping. Not perfect, but does make it easier, especially if moving to newer hardware with a new OS.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Smilin

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: dcliveBut I've been clear - for one off changes, I don't see a point in sysprep.

It's supported. I can call MS (granted, who does this very often) and they will listed. However when you *do* need to call them it's usualy important.

Really I'm not *too* interested in what method you use, this is just another tool in the bag of tricks. Thanks for the insight in the thread.

Sysprep is supported for use in deployment scenarios. It is not supported as a means to move any operating system that has been in use for some time to a new hardware platform. Support in this scenario is "best effort" only.

How's that any different? The tool was created to allow you to move installs to varying hardware. It's supported. If you really want to get anal about it, this is a deployment scenario, just to 1 PC.

Proof is in the pudding. I have called MS and had them work with me on it. They didn't say "Oh, you ran sysprep, I can't support you". Have you ever been denied support because you ran sysprep?

IIRC Vista's installer is going to be sysprep+ximage based.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Smilin
Sysprep is supported for use in deployment scenarios. It is not supported as a means to move any operating system that has been in use for some time to a new hardware platform. Support in this scenario is "best effort" only.

How's that any different? The tool was created to allow you to move installs to varying hardware. It's supported. If you really want to get anal about it, this is a deployment scenario, just to 1 PC.

Taking a clean install with newly installed apps and 3rd party programs then stamping it out to different machines is relatively simple.

The number of variables you introduce into this simple setup by "living and working" in a machine for a year can be very significant. Sysprep merely toggles a couple registry keys so the next boot initiates mini-setup. Since 3rd party registry entries never get touched during this process it is possible to hang a machine during mini-setup.

Since not all scenarios can be predicted to work 100% of the time sysprep is not supported for this.

Proof is in the pudding. I have called MS and had them work with me on it. They didn't say "Oh, you ran sysprep, I can't support you". Have you ever been denied support because you ran sysprep?

hehe It's quite possible you talked to me on that support call And no, I'll never deny anyone help due to an unsupported config. I've certainly seen this unsupported scenario result in a machine that could not be salvaged though. Be aware.

I don't mean to shoot down your idea of using sysprep for this but I would probably steer you towards a repair install instead. Getting hardware dependent 3rd party services and especially filter drivers cleaned up ahead of time makes a huge difference too.

 

[Smilin]

There is an XP version of this but for some reason it's not public. The fundamentals are the same:

249694 How to move a Windows 2000 installation to different hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=249694

 

[Athlongamer]

Originally posted by: Slowlearner
Since we all do this all time - I would like to see a How To with (a) slip streaming SP2 with XP CD and appended to that this as part (b). And I would like see a part (c) creating a recovery CD/DVD after the install is complete.

or.......google it....straight up tells you how to do and gives you the code to insert in the registry key....i think its like the one of the 1st 5 hits that come up.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
How's that any different? The tool was created to allow you to move installs to varying hardware. It's supported. If you really want to get anal about it, this is a deployment scenario, just to 1 PC.

Proof is in the pudding. I have called MS and had them work with me on it. They didn't say "Oh, you ran sysprep, I can't support you". Have you ever been denied support because you ran sysprep?

IIRC Vista's installer is going to be sysprep+ximage based.

Actually, in some scenarios, you will be denied support if you did NOT use sysprep

For the historical record, sysprep was orginally created for OEM/VAR and Enterprise clients to rapidly deploy sets *correctly*. Ghost came out and folks were deploying sets with duplicate SIDs (bad to have the same computer SID in the AD/SMS world). Ghost recreated a tool to reset the SID, but with careful analysis, it was discovered it missed some significant parts. MS FINALLY released sysprep as the answer for rapid deployment (and would support images after its use). It then also morphed into a testing tool (rebuild same image on newer hardware for device driver/setup testing.)

 

[Zebo]

Bump Don't know why this does'nt have sticky works like a charm. And if you don't use sysprep reinstall. That updater is a POS and takes just as long as a reinstall might as well have a "fresh" registry and OS.

 

[Smilin]

It doesn't have a sticky because this topic is covered in the Anandtech FAQs. The FAQ version recommends a repair instead of sysprep as well.

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.aspx?i=113

snippet:
"- Reportedly, Windows 2000 and XP can be tricked into doing this stuff for you. The procedure is this: Shut down, install your new hardware, power on, and enter your system BIOS. Make sure your First Boot Device is set to CDROM. Insert the Windows 2000/XP setup CD and boot from this disk. (You may have to "press a key to boot from CD" as the prompt says.) Skip the initial prompt asking to repair your existing installation. Then proceed to the screen where you select a partition, and choose your existing Windows partition. Setup will detect your existing installation and ask you to repair. Say yes. When Windows Setup is complete, you should have a fully working installation with all your old user and application profiles. Everything should be intact, except your hardware and driver settings, leaving it fresh for your new motherboard.

- Sysprep, a Microsoft tool for preparing a Windows 2000 system for disk cloning, is useful when changing motherboards. Among other things, Sysprep removes all references to the local machine's hardware devices. You could run Sysprep, install your new hardware, and reboot. However, the procedure is more complicated than the Windows Setup CD repair method described immediately above. Sysprep is best suited to disk image deployment."

 

[Snakexor]

question, do you need to do this if you are going from one nforce chipset to another, ie nforce3=>4?

 

[ITPaladin]

Originally posted by: Smilin
It doesn't have a sticky because this topic is covered in the Anandtech FAQs. The FAQ version recommends a repair instead of sysprep as well.

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.aspx?i=113

snippet:
"- Reportedly, Windows 2000 and XP can be tricked into doing this stuff for you. The procedure is this: Shut down, install your new hardware, power on, and enter your system BIOS. Make sure your First Boot Device is set to CDROM. Insert the Windows 2000/XP setup CD and boot from this disk. (You may have to "press a key to boot from CD" as the prompt says.) Skip the initial prompt asking to repair your existing installation. Then proceed to the screen where you select a partition, and choose your existing Windows partition. Setup will detect your existing installation and ask you to repair. Say yes. When Windows Setup is complete, you should have a fully working installation with all your old user and application profiles. Everything should be intact, except your hardware and driver settings, leaving it fresh for your new motherboard.

- Sysprep, a Microsoft tool for preparing a Windows 2000 system for disk cloning, is useful when changing motherboards. Among other things, Sysprep removes all references to the local machine's hardware devices. You could run Sysprep, install your new hardware, and reboot. However, the procedure is more complicated than the Windows Setup CD repair method described immediately above. Sysprep is best suited to disk image deployment."

hm good thing I saw this. I was getting ready for the sys way.

It is alot easier to remember to just use the CD.

 

[jeffk55]

Seems to be a fitting place for this since it involves reinstalling winxp and a new MB.
I'm trying to find and answer or alternative to my "error". Brief history... MB/CPU and or power supply died last week. Short of troubleshooting everything I just went and upgraded all 3. Knew this would be no cakewalk but what the heck I'm down anyways. Well installed the components and did a repair of XP. Couldn't do it any other way because of the failure and inability to sysprep the sytem. Anyways I had a XPSP-2 CD that I made so I wouldn't have to download it. Was too lazy to make a integrated XP (my original is quite old) and XP SP2 boot disk. Well the repair went fine. Used the xpsp2 disc to upgrade the system but here is when it all went south...... Upgrade was dodgy but after some struggles I finally mamged to complete it. Problem came on the next reboot... BSOD w 0x0000007e error (0xc0000005,0x00000000,0xf7a2f0c0,oxf7a2edbc). Tried safe mode and no go..Tried the other modes as well. Then tried VGA mode. XP-SP2 booted just fine. Everything works as designed except for the low res ect. Once corrected things appear normal. All components functioning. VERY strange. Of course now when I have to reboot I have to f8 it to use vga mode. Short of a re-install anyone have a clue????
My only possible mistake I made was when re-installing the OS the new board I did not install the RAID drivers since I was not using RAID or SATA for that matter.....
Hint,tips, ect needed badly.....

 

[wongnog]

Will I run into problems going from an Athlon XP to a dual core Opteron 165? My current HAL is ACPI Uniprocessor PC and according to that microsoft link it says Sysprep can be used going from ACPI Uniprocessor to ACPI Multiprocessor PC. I am just assuming that is what the HAL will be on my new Opteron. Any input?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: wongnog
Will I run into problems going from an Athlon XP to a dual core Opteron 165? My current HAL is ACPI Uniprocessor PC and according to that microsoft link it says Sysprep can be used going from ACPI Uniprocessor to ACPI Multiprocessor PC. I am just assuming that is what the HAL will be on my new Opteron. Any input?

i have read exacty what you have read and have my fingers crossed. i will be swithching to my rig in sig to a nf3 opteron 144 setup.....

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: wongnog
Will I run into problems going from an Athlon XP to a dual core Opteron 165? My current HAL is ACPI Uniprocessor PC and according to that microsoft link it says Sysprep can be used going from ACPI Uniprocessor to ACPI Multiprocessor PC. I am just assuming that is what the HAL will be on my new Opteron. Any input?

You should be fine. Typically the OS won't boot if the HAL is mismatched or the disk controller for the new MB isn't known to the operating system. You can't fix the first issue; the second issue you can fix by moving disk controllers from old PC to new one (say, an add-in IDE or SCSI controller), or preinstalling the new MB's disk controller driver while running XP on the old MB.

 

[wongnog]

Originally posted by: dclive
You should be fine. Typically the OS won't boot if the HAL is mismatched or the disk controller for the new MB isn't known to the operating system. You can't fix the first issue; the second issue you can fix by moving disk controllers from old PC to new one (say, an add-in IDE or SCSI controller), or preinstalling the new MB's disk controller driver while running XP on the old MB.

Well I don't have any disk controllers in my old PC, just three standard IDE hard drives. The current board is an nForce2 motherboard. My new right will be NF4. If I just install the nVidia universal drivers for nForce 2 thru 4 should that be alright?

 

[dclive]

You should be fine with that, as long as the HAL's the same. Your IDE controllers are nVidia's, so that should work.

 

[Phoenix86]

Agreed, you should be good to go. Also, the repair options is always available if sysprep does work.

Good luck.

BTW, as some additional related info, Vista will not have the HAL mismatch issues. This is why they can use this method as the base install as opposed to a traditional window setup.

 

[dclive]

Why would one want to use Sysprep for a one-off? Are you suggesting people will go thru the entire -BMSD step? I can't see most people doing that, and if they don't, it's highly likely they'll have disk-boot issues with dissimilar hardware.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: dclive
Why would one want to use Sysprep for a one-off? Are you suggesting people will go thru the entire -BMSD step? I can't see most people doing that, and if they don't, it's highly likely they'll have disk-boot issues with dissimilar hardware.

i use it because in my experience, it has worked flawlessly where the repair option leaves the computer running slow. now i don't do this enough to be proficient at it either way, but that has been my experience.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: dclive
Why would one want to use Sysprep for a one-off?

Yes, that's kinda the whole point behind the thread.

Are you suggesting people will go thru the entire -BMSD step? I can't see most people doing that, and if they don't, it's highly likely they'll have disk-boot issues with dissimilar hardware.

That is not my experience. The repair method also requires either having a fully patched CD, or you will need to re-patch after running the repair. It takes much longer, sysprep takes minutes, even if it's just to try it. Repair option is still available if sysprep fails.

 

[dclive]

The point of the thread is moving XP (ie an upgrade) from motherboard A to motherboard B. Sysprep isn't, IMHO, the ideal way to do that for a one-off move.

The best way, IMHO, is to check the HAL (which Sysprep won't solve or help with anyway), and then preinstall the correct HDD controller (or use "Standard PCI IDD Controller", assuming the new PC will boot with that, which most will), then ghost or move the hard drive and have your new drivers CD ready to go.

Note that I don't suggest the repair bit. I suggest doing what I wrote immediately above. It's easier than Sysprep or repair.