Motherboard swap... is new OS installed needed?

[bupkus]

A friend of mine has an Epox EP-8RDA+ where the capacitors are leaking. He bought an K7N2GM-V to replace it and although I'm prone to suggest a fresh install of the OS, he has so much stuff on the hard drive and it's so disorganized, I'm thinking of just transfering the hard drive over to the new MSI and hoping the OS will ask for whatever drivers are needed.
Since both boards use the nForce2 chipset, and all the hardware will be swapped over as well, I'm hoping for minimal problems.
Is this just wishful thinking?

 

[Bucks]

Yes, it is possible, but you risk at having your computer not run at it's max potential. It is always best to reinstall Windows after a major component upgrade. If it were me, back up the shiz and reformat.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

The actual answer depends on the OS more than on anything else. NT-based OS's have a "repair" option you can enter on the first reboot, and fix things up to suit the new hardware, even if it crosses chipset family lines. XP will want a re-activation when you do cross the "familiy chipset line" because there will be too many changes to suit it.

In this case, both MB's are NF2's, so the differences are going to be rather few, whatever the OS version. For a W-9X , including that abomination, "ME", there is a helpful trick that often helps. This assumes that the old MB will actually boot up at all, of course. Go into the Add/ Remove programs section and uninstall anything specific to the Epox board that isn't shared with the new MSI board. Then do the same thing in the Devices list of the System functions in Control Panel.

If you did a good job finding all of the differences, the W9X OS will start finding new hardware and not be tripped up by any conflicts with existing drivers.

P.S. I saw another thread about 8RDA MB's with bad caps, and have ended up needing to replace the one I used a couple of months ago (it wasn't brand new then), to build a PC for a grandchild. I haven't SEEN any bad capacitors on it yet, but I also don't yet have that MB out of the case.

 

[bupkus]

Windows XP

 

[imported_Kiwi]

I've not needed the option with W2K, which I use, and I have put XP back on the shelf to gather dust. I didn't enjoy trying to use it. But TTBOMK, you set the Bios to start from the optical drive, put in the Windows CD, and when it loads, there will be an option to do a "repair" install.

Incidentally, since answering your original query, I did start stripping the grandkid's PC down, and one of the larger capacitors close to the 462 socket has an ugly discoloration on its top -- like a rusty colored smear. None of them look bulged, but the system was having more and more trouble, so I swapped him an older and slower PC made from a hodge-podge of leftovers in my spares and previously-used stuff. I have a similar MB, that I had to go and buy from eBay, an 8RDA-3i, and it will be in that box by tomorrow evening.

 

[BigWookie]

The quickest thing would be to remove all the NVidia drivers and then swap out boards ... let the OS install new hardware ... or just put in new MB and then do a repair of windows..... or get a new hard drive and do a fresh install on it and you still have the data on the old HD.

I just buolt my new system a week or so ago and I am still installing SW .. on the other hand it is a good way of cleaning out the stuff you really never use and just kept around.