Thinking about changing motherboards

[Christopher1]

I am thinking about changing motherboards, but keeping everything else in my computer (Hard drives, DVD drives, etc). My question is, what would I need to do before replacing my motherboard with the new one?
I am running Windows XP and I was wondering if I should remove all the motherboard drivers before replacing the motherboard, shut down, plug my hard drive into the new motherboard, bootup and go, letting it put the drivers for the new motherboard in.
Or, would I have to install generic motherboard drivers, and THEN replace the motherboard, etc. as in the case before.

 

[GamerExpress]

Actually you will more then likely get a BSOD with a motherboard swap.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: Christopher1
I am thinking about changing motherboards, but keeping everything else in my computer (Hard drives, DVD drives, etc). My question is, what would I need to do before replacing my motherboard with the new one?

There have been a lot of users who avoided some effort with that change, by not letting the existing XP install try to run at all after the swap. Put in the XP CD, set the boot drive to CD, and boot it. Then you select the "Repair Install" and that will handle most of the problems for you.

It will use whatever drivers come with XP to get the new MB running, and after it's all done, you then run the MB's CD install procedure to replace the drivers with more specific ones, then after that, run the video card's CD install. Your software should mostly survive the changeover, but as in all things digital, "Murphy is watching you", so if you have anything you consider absolutely critical that you've not backed up lately, back it up again!


:beer:

 

[MrCodeDude]

Depends how big of an upgrade it is. I've successfully booted a nForce3 250 system on an nForce 4 board.

I've swapped motherboards and not once have I ever had to use XP Repair Install. Ideally, you should just reformat when you install a new mobo. But, I've gone ahead and swapped mobos and the system will boot fine. I've even gone from a VIA K8T800 to an nForce3 150 no problems. Only thing I had to do was uninstall the VIA 4in1's and install the nForce drivers.

I'm not saying that it will be smooth sailing for you, but all of my experiences have been really pleasant.

 

[grohl]

what about swapping mobos while using an onboard RAID controller? I am assuming I would have to match the Promise controller on my current mobo to another board with the same onboard Promise controller. Can it be done?

 

[cretinbob]

If you are going to switch boards, then your best bet is to just reformat and reinstall. You will most likely not be able to boot your system at all.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: grohl
what about swapping mobos while using an onboard RAID controller? I am assuming I would have to match the Promise controller on my current mobo to another board with the same onboard Promise controller. Can it be done?

The new motherboard would have to have an IDENTICAL raid controller in order to work. Even a slightly differant revision of the same controller isn't guranteed to work. Thats why I think it's best to get a PCI or even better PCIe raid controller if you upgrade often.