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Windows XP Pro System Installation Over Itself?

J

JonathanF

Member
I have a Computer that I plan to upgrade with a new a Motherboard and CPU Chip.

The Computer is currently running Windows XP Pro SR1, and I would really like to keep all of the Windows XP Pro, Systems and Applications Settings, and the installed Programs intact.

What is the correct way that I can install Windows XP over itself after I upgrade with the Computer's new Hardware Configuration.

I know that my Computer's System Hardware Components are being modified, but there has to be a way that I can install Windows XP over itself without loosing all of my installed Programs and Applications.

Jonathan
 
you are going to have to backup your registry before you reinstall, and restore the registry after you changed motherboard + CPU. You might also want to backup your "Documents and Settings" folder as well. I know there are more stuff to do, but these two steps are basically HAVE TO's.

You might have to reinstall some applications over itself when you've done upgrading WinXP... but once you've restored the saved registry, all personal cconfig, etc. *should* come back.

Alternatively there's that system migration wizard thing in WinXP (I think that's what it's called).. never used it, so dunno how effective it is.
 
I attempted to do the samething so I researched this first. Go to microsoft's knowledgebase and search for something like "motherboard replace". You should find an article about switching motherboards will require a new install of the OS. This is due to the registry structure. I did this with Windows 98SE and it worked fine...at least for awhile. When I was going to do this with my W2k system I just reinstalled everthing just to be safe.

If you have the extra time and don't mind if the process fails then give it a try. I read somewhere you can wipe out a key in the registry, enum...controlset0 or something like that, that will remove all related hardware. You then shutdown and install the motherboard. The new hardware gets detected as if it was the original.

Good Luck!
-JC
 
along the same lines that sep has said, there's a good AnandTech FAQ that talks about upgrading motherboard. It's in the Operating Systems section in the FAQ.
 
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