![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Navigation
Install the app
How to install the app on iOS
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
More options
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
swapping motherboard and using the old systems boot hard drive
- Thread starter Dachink
- Start date
Heliocentrical
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 2,852
It should work just fine. The os should recognize the new mobo after you replace and boot the system. You might need to install drivers from the mobo cd if for some reason the os doesnt install all the nescesary drivers. I dont see any problem from a hardware standpoint. If you're running XP (likely) it might void the product activation. I'm not exacly sure about this but I believe that changing out a major component can require reactivation. Anyone else know about this??
gigaxtreme1
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2002
- Messages
- 3,577
It's best to do a repair install when you change motherboards. This gives the operating system to rebuild the registry and HAL to optimise for the new platform.
meatfestival
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2005
- Messages
- 1,767
It's very unlikely that windows will boot up after you change motherboard. You'll need to do a repair install or preferably a fresh install of windows so that it can build a profile of your hardware and load the appropriate drivers. You can do this without reformatting, but it's probably best to start with a nice clean drive.
Heliocentrical
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 2,852
meatfestival said:It's very unlikely that windows will boot up after you change motherboard. You'll need to do a repair install or preferably a fresh install of windows so that it can build a profile of your hardware and load the appropriate drivers. You can do this without reformatting, but it's probably best to start with a nice clean drive.
I disagree with you. I have a drive with Windows 2000 professional installed that I use to boot up customers pc's to run data recovery progs on thier main drive. It has always worked. The only reason I questioned XP was due to the activation feature.
gigaxtreme1
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2002
- Messages
- 3,577
Read this FAQ for surviving a motherboard upgrade.
While it is older and addresses win 2K, the most intertesting part is the last section which makes the upgrade process simple by doing a repair install. Mind you, this is not a temporary bootup to recover lost data, but a method to get a new stable install while not losing your previous data or settings.
While it is older and addresses win 2K, the most intertesting part is the last section which makes the upgrade process simple by doing a repair install. Mind you, this is not a temporary bootup to recover lost data, but a method to get a new stable install while not losing your previous data or settings.
It will most likely work, however I wouldn't be surprised if you were back in here a few weeks from now asking us to troubleshoot your random system crashes or performance issues.
The absolute best thing to do is to start fresh when upgrading a major component like your MoBo. Second best would be to do a repair install but under no circumstances would I personally just swap the Mobo and run with it. Even with installing the new drivers, you could still have some long term problems.
I don't know if the XP activation stores anything about your hardware fingerprint on your computer. What I do know is that MS keeps the fingerprint on file 6 months from the point that you first activate Windows. So, as long as it's been longer that 6 months since the last time you used your license to activate a copy of windows, you should be in the clear.
The absolute best thing to do is to start fresh when upgrading a major component like your MoBo. Second best would be to do a repair install but under no circumstances would I personally just swap the Mobo and run with it. Even with installing the new drivers, you could still have some long term problems.
I don't know if the XP activation stores anything about your hardware fingerprint on your computer. What I do know is that MS keeps the fingerprint on file 6 months from the point that you first activate Windows. So, as long as it's been longer that 6 months since the last time you used your license to activate a copy of windows, you should be in the clear.