Quick replacing motherboard question

[Hulkster316]

I will be replacing my motherboard next week and while i have done several self builds have never replaced the mb on an existing PC. Do i have to format my main hard drive before connecting it to the new mb then reinstall windows on it ? cheers , just want to make sure beforehand.

[blueball]

If you have your XP CD and it is bootable you do not have to reformat. What you do is called an in place repair (as opposed to a normal repair). Boot from the CD, you get two options repair or install. Strangely enough click install and you will get more options one of which is another repair option. You select that and follow it through. It looks as if you are doing a clean install but you are not.

Warning, this is best done with a "slipstreamed" version of your XP CD with the same service pack level as you already have.

Additionally, make sure you have all the drivers for your new motherboard and existing cards on the hard disk.

You can read a better version of the instructions (as opposed to my garbled version) at this location:

http://motherboard.windowsreinstall.com/

Golden rules:
Take a backup before you start and store somewhere safe.
Backup your windows activation files (see link above for info) so you don't have to reactivate.
Read the new motherboard manual carefully before you start so you understand the board, it may well be very different to your old one.
Have all drivers available and unzipped on the hard disk.
If the new motherboard has a RAID driver or requires disk controller drivers that XP does not natively install then have them available on a floppy disk and press F6 when prompted to do so during the XP install - you don't have long to do this so stay alert.
Setup the BIOS on the new motherboard before booting XP the first time, don't overclock anything and disable any onboard stuff you dont want to use.
Don't panic if it looks like it has hung after the first reboot, it rebuilds the HAL so that everything works properly.
Keep your fingers crossed

OK so the last one was a joke.

I have gone through this procedure numerous times and if you follow the steps and take your time it will work beautifully and you will not have to reinstall any apps. The worst I have had to do was to reinstall some sound card drivers.

[javalord]

^^ what he said, does it for me.

[Hulkster316]

Excellent cheers for your help was dreading reinstalling everything

[blueball]

Forgot to add, download the latest BIOS for new board and have it avail on a bootable floppy that has been tested to boot.

make sure you know how to flash the BIOS

Do this before you install/repair XP

Good luck

Some people recommend booting into safe mode on first full boot of XP. I've tried both ways and both worked but some people recommend safe mode to be sure of a succesfull repair. Whatever floats your boat I suppose