Upgrading System from PIII to Athlon XP... Is FORMAT of HD necessary? Please help!

[jbright]

Hey,

I need some assistance. I am building a new system with Shuttle AK31 rev. 3.1 mobo, Athlon XP 1700+ CPU, Volcano 6cu hs/fan, 300w approved PS, etc.

I currently have a PIII 500mhz system with win 2000 pro installed on it.

My question is, can I just put this HD in the new system and it will work fine, or is a format or some other action necessary?

Please help... I'm going to try this tonight... got all the stuff finally!!

 

[XWolfsraider]

Yes i would format and re install operating system and everything else or you will have problems .....


just make sure you have drivers on hand before you start ie use computer now to download
drivers not on hand


hope this helps

 

[ChefJoe]

I think there's a util which is used to remove all traces of config from the win os, making it revert back to oem type mode. Anand or Tom(the evil one with that bloated site) talked about it recently with a intel motherboard upgrade. should be able to find with a site search (intel mobos).

best of luck.

 

[MoFunk]

I have upgraded a motherboard twice with Win2K. The first time I did not reformat I had loads of problems. Upgraded once again and did not re format and had a very good system. But doing it yet again this time with XP, I started fresh. With Win2K and above it just seems like the best course of action.

 

[Shippy]

Personally, I'd start with a clean slate (reformat). I've tried to migrate to a new mobo too many times without doing that and I ended up having little problems here and there that pretty much went away with a clean install. But hey, it wouldn't hurt to try it. back up all your important data first, incase something goes wrong. If it works out then good! If not then you were planning on doing a full install anyways.

 

[sandorski]

If Win2k installs into it's own directory like Win9x, then just delete that directory. All traces of the previous setup should be gone.

 

[MadRat]

I suggest that you simply deltree Windows and reinstall the Windows folder, not do a full format! If raw performance, stellar stability, or simplicity of maintenance are your cup of tea than certainly format the drive.

Copy the I386 (or Win98 in 98's case) folder down to the hard drive and install from that folder. You'll still need the CD in if you are using WinXP, but the hard drive runs much faster on the install.

 

[Wind]

Yeah...clean install will give u the least probs. Madrat idea of copy ur CD into ur HDD certainly make installation faster...than from a CD-ROM.

 

[GregMal]

I would very much recommend that you reformat and do a clean
install. You have 2 strikes against you. 1: you're moving from an Intel
chipset to an AMD. 2: You're using Win2000 (or XP). Both of these
have problems if you don't do a clean install...........Greg

 

[Richardito]

If you don't re-format and do a clean install be prepared to pay the consequences with instability and constant crashes.