Would Like to see Instructions on upgrading a MB on existing OS.

Mike89 · Post by **Mike89** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 1:09 pm

I am planning on getting a NForce2 motherboard along with the AMD XP2800+ (see my current specs below).

I have not upgraded a motherboard using Windows XP yet. I swapped a couple using Windows 98 and did it without having to clean install the OS. I just popped the new motherboard in, booted up and Windows 98 did the rest.

Has anyone upgraded a motherboard using Windows XP without completely wiping the OS first and installing from scratch?

I really don't want to do that if I can help it. I hope Windows XP can handle it.

Some things that come to mind I know I would have to do are before installing new MB are:

Un-install sound card drivers since I would be using the Nvidia sound on Nforce2.
Un-install the current MB monitoring software.
Un-install the AMD AGP driver I had installed from AMD's website.
Disable the Norton Antivirus so it didn't start at boot up.

I would appreciate any comments here I can get and any step by step instructions from any who have done it. Thanks

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 2:33 pm

XP handles mobo swaps very well as long as you do a repair. I've done several going from completely different chipsets (Intel BX to VIA for instance).

Here's what I recommend:

Put some time aside for this - a LOT of time. Like a whole weekend. You need your XP installer CD and your CD key.

First, MAKE A GHOST IMAGE of the boot partition first before swapping mobos! If this doesn't work, or the new mobo has problems, and the system is mission critical, at least you can restore it put the old mobo back in and be up and running.

Shut down the computer and swap the mobos. DO NOT INSTALL ANY CARDS EXCEPT THE VIDEO CARD!!! If the mothernboard has on-board sound, NIC or modem then disable them in BIOS for now. This swap will go MUCH smoother if XP has few devices to worry about initializing and finding drivers for during the change. Once it's up and running you can install the other cards and enable the on-board hardware.

Boot using the Windows XP install CD (you may need to configure BIOS to boot from the CD before the HDD). If your new mobo has an on-board RAID controller or you're planning on using a SCSI or EIDE controller on a card and you're not going to use the on-board EIDE controller then you MUST have a copy of those drivers unzipped to the root directory of a FLOPPY (must be on a floppy since you won't be able to access the hard drive or CD). First thing the XP installer does when it boots is ask you to press a function key (F6) if you have a SCSI or other disk controller drivers to install. Hit that key, and it'll prompt you to put the drivers in the floppy drive. It'll install the controller drivers and continue on (again you can ignore this if you're using the standard EIDE ports on the motherboard).

In the first menu when it asks if you want to install XP or go to the recovery console hit ENTER for install. In the next menu select the REPAIR option.

This will force XP to wipe the device manager and re-install itself, reconstructing the boot sectors using the new drive controller, and re-detecting all hardware. You won't lose any data and your apps will still be installed.

Once XP is up and running you can enable each on-board device ONE BY ONE (trust me this will make things go much smoother) then after the onboard stuff, install each card ONE BY ONE.

After that you'll need to re-install XP Service Pack 1 because repair will reset XP back to the original version. You'll also need to install the latest security updates (do it after installing SP1).

Hope this helps...

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 3:32 pm

Excellent tutorial!!

Appreciate the time and experience in this posting.

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 3:38 pm

I've swapped out 5 motherboards and put back in all of the card and everything went just fine. XP handles the repair very well and reconfigs everything. It is just like installing the OS again pretty much but everything that was there before will be there when its repaired. It pretty much just dumps your device manager and installs it again. I think this is why it don't really matter if all the cards are installed or not.

Mike89 · Post by **Mike89** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 10:47 pm

Thanks guys for the info, I have printed it up for future use.

My system is pretty simple, no scsi drives. Just two PCI cards (now that I'll be getting rid of my sound card), a TV tuner card and win modem.

I'm still a ways away from getting all the stuff. Haven't decided on which Nforce2 board but from all the reviews I have read, I have narrowed it down between the Abit and Asus boards.

Then of course I will have to get new ram (333) as my existing (266) isn't going to cut it. I'll probably go for the gusto and get 2 256 meg sticks of Corsair PC3200 since from all I've read seems to be the best out right now.

And of course the XP2800+ isn't even really here yet. Even the Nforce2 board reviewers can't seem to get one to test with it.

Probably within the next couple of months.

Then there is the vid card that will have to go with this system. Most likely NV30 unless the final board doesn't beat the ATI 9700 Pro.

Dam, one small thing I forgot to mention.

WHERE THE HELL AM I GOING TO GET THE MONEY TO BUY ALL THIS STUFF?!

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Sun Dec 08, 2002 12:20 am

Sell me your pc2100 and you've got a start

If your going to do any serious overclocking i'd consider Epox's line of Nforce2 boards... From the reviews i've read the 8RDA+ is a damn good overclocker and stable. Think they have 2 other version with added features on each.

Mike89 · Post by **Mike89** » Sun Dec 08, 2002 1:19 am

I just may do that when it comes time to replace my ram. I currently have 2 256 meg sticks of Crucial PC2100. Very good ram. I run my system stock but have tried overclocking the fsb (since it's multiplier locked and I'm too lazy to mod the CPU). I ran 140 fsb with no problems. I tried 150 fsb and system wouldn't even post. Not sure if it was the ram holding it back or the CPU.

I read the Epox review and one thing I didn't like was it's not SoundStorm certified. I have head mention in one review of Epox adding an add-on card to have all the SoundStorm features but no details were given and Epox's website doesn't even mention it. This was surprising to me that Epox would not put out full SoundStorm on the motherboard like Asus and Abit did. The Chaintech Nforce2 also is not SoundStorm certified.

Mike89 · Post by **Mike89** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 10:12 pm

I have another question.

OK, say I have the Windows XP Pro disk in doing the repair.

What happens when the time comes to install the motherboard drivers? How am I going to install the motherboard drivers from the included CD that came with the motherboard when the XP CD is still running/repairing?

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 10:32 pm

Don't worry about anything until its on the desktop then install your mobo drivers first... Just like a normal install is...