Best way to change a mobo without reformatting?

J

J-M-E

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
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Hey guys

tomorrow or friday my new conroe is going to come in and im wondering what would be the best path to take to change the motherboard and not have to reformat my SATA Raptor. What are my options and which would be the easiest? Sysprep? A program like norton ghost?

Thanks
 
Here is a method I've used, and has worked for me.

regedit>hkey_current_config>system>currentcontrolset>enum

Delete the enum key, close and shutdown.
Swap your mobo, and boot.When windows loads, it will detect your new hardware and build profiles. It may take a couple re-starts.

Hope it helps.
 
Fark_Maniac said:
and ftw...I did this last night without a hitch
Click to expand...
And I've tried it on a few motherboard swaps and it hasn't worked once :(

Socket A (nForce 3) to Socket 754 (nForce 4) = Fail
Socket A (VIA) to Socket A (nForce 3) = Fail
Socket A (VIA ) to Socket 754 (ULI) = Fail
Socket 754 (ULI) to Socket 754 (nForce 4) = Fail

I must be doing something wrong, because sysprep NEVER works. Any ideas?
 
From dealing with customers with dead motherboards (and not having the same motherboard they had), I found this method to work.

Bootup with your windows CD.
Since you have a SATA HDD, you may have to load the SATA drivers on a floppy and hit "F6" when Windows setup starts, to load the SATA drivers and recognize the drive.

When you get to the "Welcome to Setup" screen, hit "Enter" to continue.

At the License Agreement screen, hit "F8" to agree.

At this time, the setup will search for a previous windows installation, it will find the partition, and you will have three options: F3=Quit, R=Repair, Esc=Fresh Install.

Hit "R" to Repair the Windows Installation.

This reloads the system files to the CD version, and leaves your data and programs intact.
You will have to re-enter your Windows Key, re-activate windows, and do all the windows updates.

I recommend sysprep if your PC is not dead.

Good Luck!
 
cookie said:
From dealing with customers with dead motherboards (and not having the same motherboard they had), I found this method to work.

Bootup with your windows CD.
Since you have a SATA HDD, you may have to load the SATA drivers on a floppy and hit "F6" when Windows setup starts, to load the SATA drivers and recognize the drive.

When you get to the "Welcome to Setup" screen, hit "Enter" to continue.

At the License Agreement screen, hit "F8" to agree.

At this time, the setup will search for a previous windows installation, it will find the partition, and you will have three options: F3=Quit, R=Repair, Esc=Fresh Install.

Hit "R" to Repair the Windows Installation.

This reloads the system files to the CD version, and leaves your data and programs intact.
You will have to re-enter your Windows Key, re-activate windows, and do all the windows updates.

I recommend sysprep if your PC is not dead.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Well yes im aware of this method but the point is i want to do this without reinstalling all the updates and that bs

So...sysprep or delete the registry key

Anyone else tried the registry method?
 
If the choice is mucking with the registry, or using a tool specifically designed for this scenario, I'd say, go with the tool. Anytime you can avoid fooling with the registry, do so.
 
Unknown-One said:
And I've tried it on a few motherboard swaps and it hasn't worked once :(

Socket A (nForce 3) to Socket 754 (nForce 4) = Fail
Socket A (VIA) to Socket A (nForce 3) = Fail
Socket A (VIA ) to Socket 754 (ULI) = Fail
Socket 754 (ULI) to Socket 754 (nForce 4) = Fail

I must be doing something wrong, because sysprep NEVER works. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
What was the error after you swapped out equipment?

edit: if sysprep fails 10-1 you can do an in-place reinstall of windows and that'll generally fix it.
 
I have some foggy recollection of trying sysprep and having it work for me.
 
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