Motherboard change (Windows No Boot)

[magnav0x]

Ok well, I just swapped out my Albatron K8X800 Pro II for a Abit NF8-V. I was using a SATA drive as my main drive on the Albatron board and again did so on the Abit. Once I hooked everything up to the new motherboard and started the system I was unable to get into Windows. I would breifly see the Windows progress bar (loading screen) and it would immediatly reboot the machine. It does the same when I try to go in via safe mode.

Now my guess is that it's the old SATA drivers that are causing the problem, but that's just a guess. What do you think? Do I need to reinstall windows since I have a motherboard with a different chipset?

 

[riser]

Windows installed itself around the hardware in your computer. You switched out the main core of your hardware.

You're lucky you're not getting BSOD on it.

Solution?

Reinstall Windows. You could even try doing a repair too.

 

[Zoron]

If you're moving from a VIA chipset to a VIA chipset or an Intel to an Intel... and so on and so on, you can usually get away with doing a repair. Of course, this also depends on your CPU... if you're going from AMD to Intel or vice vera, you'll have to reload. Same applies if you're going to a different brand of chipset.

Sometimes you get lucky, but most of the time you don't.

 

[one_winger]

What you're seeing most likely is an "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" error,. It just flashes very quickly if "Automatically Reboot" is set. Since, as already stated, Windows XP sets up the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) around the hardware in your computer at install time.

Upon being unable to recognize the hardware, and find the IDE controller and attached drives, it just dies, and restarts.

Sometimes, it can even just outright lock the hell up.

It should work just fine with a repair install. Do the thing with the CD, the F8, and the "R" button, and you'll be good to go.

[EDIT]Unless you're running Corp., you'll have to reactivate as well, most likely.[/EDIT]

Cheers,

 

[Zoron]

Unmountable boot volume usually comes up before the Windows splash screen... and then it stays there... doesn't reboot. It's probably a driver error due to the change in chipsets.

 

[one_winger]

Mmm...mmhm.

Yes, yes, it usually does... although, I've seen it not as well, it usually does.

So, it's likely a chipset issue, an error associated with the initial HAL.

Good eye, Zoron.

Cheers,