replacing mobo w/o reinstalling windows...

[Endymion]

anyone have any advice on this one? i have to go over to my parents today and replace their motherboard, and i don't really want to spend all day there reinstalling windows and all the programs that they have. i know it is not the best idea, but time constraints being what they are, is there an easy way to do this? i seem to remember trying it once a year or so ago, and it didn't work, kept hanging when trying to reboot, so i just ended up reinstalling. has anyone done this? will booting into the repair console do anything useful?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

system specs of what you are replacing(OS,etc.) as well as what you are replacing it with would be of assistance towards some suggestions..ty

 

[Endymion]

you think? all i really want to know is if this is more hassle than it is worth? the system is running windows 2000 (prof). just putting in some crap motherboard as the usb ports on the one they have right now don't work.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Well

I know that in XP you have to re-install Windows.

It may work in 2K without re-installing

 

[Endymion]

arg.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

<< arg. >>

not a good sign there

<< I know that in XP you have to re-install Windows. >>

glad you know...weird that I took my XPPro harddrive(20GB Maxtor 740xl) out of my iwill kk266(Via KT133a) and put it on my BioStar M7MIA(AMD 761 w/686b Southbridge) and WinXPPro configured itself rather nicely without a burble..that is why I asked for system specs as as AlWays YMMV

 

[Endymion]

i don't even remember the specs on this thing, i put it together a while ago...

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Thanks Endymion...nice sig too try( hate that word) deleting the IDE controllers(if it is a different chipset board than the replacement) and remove all cards installed (write down which slot they were in as this might help in configuring on the new board) but the Graphics card. If more than one stick of memory(DIMM only advice..) leave only one in slot 0 ). Set the new mobo with Default Settings in the BIOS. Give it a spin...anyone with other suggestions please add or correct.

 

[Endymion]

i think i did that all last time, except maybe the ide controllers, i will give that one a try and hope that it works. thanks

 

[ScrapSilicon]

One more suggestion reboot after adding anything(one item at a time) in. Helps to narrow the culprit down.

 

[Endymion]

oh yeah definitely, i always do it that way.

 

[XBoxLPU]

I just had to re-install windows xp because I went from a Via Board to an Asus P4S333.

And in the past, i had an old Compaq mobo and upgrade to a MSI K7T266 pro, i had to re-installl 2K

 

[Endymion]

i think this might be an abit board that is in there now, no idea what one, and i am just putting in some crap combo board (good enough for the parents), hopefully it will work, i really don't want to be over there all day!

 

[Mem]

50/50 is probably what will happen if you just swap boards over without clean install of OS,I did this once with Win98 going from Intel to VIA board, it was a little unstable at first but I got it stable with 30 mins or so of playing around with it.Anyway you will find out eitherway.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

hi Mem...I feel your pain there XBoxLPU ...Compaq...nasty

 

[XBoxLPU]

There was more pain felt when I had the VIA Board..

 

[Mem]

It`s really no big deal doing a clean install of OS,since most guys have some sort of backup for their favourite software like CDRW etc,anyway 30 mins or so it took me to install WinXP on my last PC ,and now I always do a clean install of OS with with new motherboards.
Hi ScrapSilicon.

Endymion good luck I hope it goes well for you & your parents.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Yep

I have 40 gb Maxtor drive and I Just have it setup with a 4gb partition ( C: ) and 33 gb partition.

so all I have to do is re-format my C partition and thus I lose no data on my 33 gb ( Music, Documents etc )

Not a problem for me.

 

[4824guy]

There is a method that some people use without installing the OS. Here is a article that explains the Registry workaround trick. right here

 

[OpalFrost98GT]

Is the usb the only reason for doing this? Why not just go and get a pci usb card to throw in there dude? Just disable the onboard USB install the card and whamo...your done.

 

[454Casull]

You could always just d3l3t3 the Windows directory... Leaves the programs intact. But, your registry may be missing some things.

 

[rockhard]

There was a thread in here a few weeks ago that i think some of you guys could do with reading
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=736403
Hope this is of some help to you guys

'gards,

rockhard =)