PCA Forums

Hello once again all,

I have gotten the upgrade bug once again, as I am sure all of you are quite familiar with it. I am looking to go from my Thunderbird 1.4 to an Athlon XP 2100+. I have a few questions:

1. I have an Epox 8k7a. I was wondering if you guys think I should upgrade that or keep it and run the XP in it. I have been looking at getting an Epox 8k5a2+. Does anyone see any reasons why I should buy a new motherboard?

2. I have a RAID 0 configuration running Windows XP with 2 40 Gig WD drives with a CMD PCI 0649 Ultra 100 IDE RAID controller. My main question is that if I do any upgrading, even just the processor, or if I go all the way out and get a new motherboard....what effect will this have on my OS? I really do not want to have to format and re-install.

3. Also, it seems that the Epox 8k5a2+ requires DDR 2700 RAM, is that correct, anyone?

Any suggestions or answers will be helpful, thanks!!

Matt

get a new motherboard... seen too many people have trouble wit hthe 8K7A and XP chips... i had to shitcan mine for a XP333 cause it wouldn't run my 1700+ no you won't have to format sinceu have a seperate raid controller but you'll have to put it in the new system for that to happen. Otherwise you'll have to reinstall the array on a new controller. and the 8k5a2+ will take pc2100 you just have to be sure its only running at 133 FSB and not at 166....

OK....I supposed that since I had a separate RAID controller that I could just swap it over....but I wasn't too sure about XP...b/c I have heard from everyone that when you get a new motherboard with XP it is altogether better to format and re-install. Are there any steps that I should perform before I move the RAID configuration over to the new machine?

Thanks,

Matt

If you're using a stand-alone RAID controller on a card, then you should not have any problems. The only time you run into problems is with on-board RAID controllers.

2K & XP identify a hard drive by it's physical address. This address usually changes when using an onboard RAID (not to mention the fact that the onboard RAID chips might not be compatible).

That's why I recommend using a stand alone card when going RAID.

If you're running XP you won't have any problems. XP is very good about mobo swaps. You can just boot into XP with the new mobo and USUALLY it'll re-detect everything just fine.

A better idea, though,. is to boot with the XP CD after swapping the mobo and select the REPAIR option (not the RECOVERY console - people often confuse them). The Repair option forces XP to wipe the Device Manager and redetect all devices as if it was a new install.

If you're using Win2K is far more problematic. 2K doesn't take to mobo swapping very well. Yoy're better off doing a clean install if you use 2K.

Thanks FP, that was very infomative and helpful!!! I knew there was a reason I came to this forum
Now, I can't wait to get my new setup in the mail.

Matt

Ok, I finally got my configuration all in the mail today....put it together....put in the RAID controller and decided to boot it up....there is where my problem started. It booted once, installed all the new devices beautifully...but after I reboot when it tells me to....I get a stop: 0x00000024 error...which is not talked about on the windows site at all. I also, cannot find the Repair function when I boot from my windows cd at all. I do however have the option of the recovery console....which seems to be of no help to me at this point.....FP, got any more suggestions? I am all out of ideas. This sux, I hope I just didn't make myself have to do a re-install.....would a possible option be to re-install over my already existing installation?

Thanks once again,

Matt

NEVERMIND....i found it...silly me....either way, I will let you guys know how it turns out....keep your fingers crossed for me...this is my data on the line...of course I have backups...but lots of them and will have much to recover what I will lose.

Thanks,

matt

A Repair in XP is essentially equivalent to doing a soft re-install in Win98. I assume you found it but after the menu with the recovery console option (hit enter to continue) there's another menu with the Repair option.

Yes, sir, I did find it alright....and it worked just fine. My system is now up and running...and when people told me that Athlon XP's run cooler than the ol Athlons...they sure weren't kidding. Anyways...thanks for all your help once again...and take care.

Thanks,

Matt