My friend is donating me his motherboard because he's getting a new one (what a great friend 😀). Anyways, I've never installed/uninstalled motherboards before. I've messed with every other part of the comp though (installing new CPU, new hdds, new add-on cards, etc). So do you guys have some suggestions for a motherboard installation newbie? I don't want to mess up his old mobo (which is fairly new because he didn't use it much) and make him mad. 😉 I'm especially worried about physically installing/uninstalling the motherboard and messing with the BIOS settings.
He's giving me his motherboard manual too...phew 🙂
Oh ya, do I have to format when I change mobos? I have alot of stuff that I don't want to lose and I don't feel like wasting another 100 CD-Rs on backing up. He told me that if I don't want to format, I have to remove all the "System Devices" (listed under Device manager) and that I'm going to have to remove the VIA 4in1s. He says usually not formatting and changing motherboards causes hell. So should I format or not?
And how do you remove those System Devices? I know how to uninstall the 4in1s but not those System Devices. 🙁
He's giving me his motherboard manual too...phew 🙂
Oh ya, do I have to format when I change mobos? I have alot of stuff that I don't want to lose and I don't feel like wasting another 100 CD-Rs on backing up. He told me that if I don't want to format, I have to remove all the "System Devices" (listed under Device manager) and that I'm going to have to remove the VIA 4in1s. He says usually not formatting and changing motherboards causes hell. So should I format or not?
And how do you remove those System Devices? I know how to uninstall the 4in1s but not those System Devices. 🙁
