motherboard installation

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Do I need to format my hard drive before installing a new motherboard? If
so, which is best formatting program to use?

Many thanks for any help.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

skeletor 16940 wrote:
> Do I need to format my hard drive before installing a new motherboard? If
> so, which is best formatting program to use?
>
> Many thanks for any help.


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
not transferable to a new motherboard - check yours before starting),
unless the new motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same
IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP
installation was originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair
(a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/direc [...] US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it,
is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to accepting any
old hardware configuration you throw at it. On installation it
"tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This is one of the
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than
120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the Internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

skeletor 16940 <skeletor16940@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Do I need to format my hard drive before installing a new motherboard? If
> so, which is best formatting program to use?

your question implies you don't want the contents of the drive to remain
intact (ie, a clean install), so let the xp setup wipe the drive, don't
bother doing it beforehand.

boot into xp setup on the cd, delete all partitions on the dirve, then
make a new one. depending on the drive size you may want to limit it to
only 20 or 30 GB, and leave the rest unpartitioned until after xp install
is done. then use xp's disk manager to make other partitions as required.

----------

BUT, if your xp cd is only an UPGRADE version: it will require proof of an
earlier version, such as a W98 install CD. If your only proof is the copy
of windows installed on that HD then don't wipe it! You'll need to do an
upgrade install over the existing windows rather than a clean install.
Don't burn your bridges!