Ever swap your mobo without reinstalling Winxp??

[Scrubking]

If so, please tell me how you did it.

[jmcc]

If so, please tell me how you did it.

I did, however it was with a 95% similar motherboard (an abit board with raid swapped for the non-raid version of the board.)

edit: to address the question better, I think (and I've never actually done it, so take it with a grain of salt here) that you should be able to boot it into safe mode and it should be capable of detecting and installing all the new stuff on the new board.

[PsyClerk]

Good f'n luck. I've tried this for clients a few times, each time telling them that it was a shot in the dark. Each time I had to re-install.

Unless you have an exact replica of your original motherboard, re-install is in your future.

[bignick]

hmmmm, I must try this now, ghost first so I can go back! I will try from an asus to an ecs, see different enough.

[PsyClerk]

XP likes to establish new configurations for each device it detects. The problem comes in when those devices are no longer present. XP doesn't detect THAT, and it's a bear trying to make them go away.

In one case, after a new mobo install one client's machine listed 4 different network connections, all labeled by number. The lower numbered ones were old and inoperable because the hardware they pointed to on the motherboard was no longer present.

If it IS possible to avoid a re-install, it's probably too much trouble to bother with.

[bignick]

XP likes to establish new configurations for each device it detects. The problem comes in when those devices are no longer present. XP doesn't detect THAT, and it's a bear trying to make them go away.

In one case, after a new mobo install one client's machine listed 4 different network connections, all labeled by number. The lower numbered ones were old and inoperable because the hardware they pointed to on the motherboard was no longer present.

If it IS possible to avoid a re-install, it's probably too much trouble to bother with.

I wonder if sysprep and ghost could work? Thats how I created my old companies master image. Ghost, sysprep, then ghost again. You can add the new drivers into the sysprep setup info. hmmmm wish I was still in a corporate networking environment.

[Scrubking]

One tip I have come up with resolves Windows XP’s inability to allow for a motherboard change without reinstalling. There is a way around this. Before you change the motherboard go into device manager and change the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller". You do this by going to update driver and then selecting "Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install." Then select the "Standard....Controller."



After you have changed the controller, shut down the PC and change the motherboard. You should now be able to boot without the blue screen. Now load the new motherboard drivers including the new IDE controller driver. This is useful for people who use removable drives or people who need to upgrade their motherboard.

That is from a site I found. How realistic does the above sound?

[PsyClerk]

Update: Very good BigNick. Sysprep will let you do this. However, it hinges on having run sysprep on your old XP install and then imaging it. If you haven't done that, then I'm at a loss.

In other words, if you are replacing due to hardware failure and haven't imaged, re-install is likely.

Hey I learned something today.

[daphatty]

Big Nick- you are correct. Sysprep will work. However, getting Sysprep to work correctly can be a pain.

Scrubking- I read that same article. I haven't tried it but I from my experience I don't think it would be as simple as it sounds. Sysprep is a much safer route to go.

[brushwood]

scrubking: The information you just posted about the IDE driver is exactly right. It is the most important thing you need to do. If you do not do that, XP will probably not be able to access the hard drive (unless the new motherboard uses the same IDE controller) and you will get a blue screen. (Yes I know this makes little sense since to boot up far enough to get a blue screen the hard drive needs to be accessed but just trust me on this one. The full explanation would take too long.) I use this method all the time when imaging people's computers here at work and moving them to a new machine. You have to re-install all the drivers but it saves me a ton of work and the users like not having to set everything back up the way they want it.

[Scrubking]

scrubking: The information you just posted about the IDE driver is exactly right. It is the most important thing you need to do. If you do not do that, XP will probably not be able to access the hard drive (unless the new motherboard uses the same IDE controller) and you will get a blue screen. (Yes I know this makes little sense since to boot up far enough to get a blue screen the hard drive needs to be accessed but just trust me on this one. The full explanation would take too long.) I use this method all the time when imaging people's computers here at work and moving them to a new machine. You have to re-install all the drivers but it saves me a ton of work and the users like not having to set everything back up the way they want it.

Could you elaborate some more and give some more tips?

[bignick]

Big Nick- you are correct. Sysprep will work. However, getting Sysprep to work correctly can be a pain.

Scrubking- I read that same article. I haven't tried it but I from my experience I don't think it would be as simple as it sounds. Sysprep is a much safer route to go.

Ya it took me a few days to get it right, its so anal with " and , and shit like that. But since it is MS the " dont get applied to everything, pain in the ass. Sysprep rules though! Ghost rules!