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I have swapped out mobo's using an existing run of XP pro before, however the motherboards (Asus) were the same brand and used the same bios, had the same ram (DDR) and used the same CPU. Had some minor glitches but got them ironed out pretty quick.
This time, I want to migrate an existing copy of XpPro to another mobo of the same brand (Asus) but they use a completely different bios, different CPU (L3 cache) , upgrading ram type from DDR to DDR2, and installing a new PCI 2.0 512 GDDR3 video which is ATI and the previous was Nvida and only PCI.
Now from what I have gathered, before doing a swap out, you can roll back the drivers to the default basic win drivers so that on boot you won't have a driver conflict with the video and cpu and there by increasing your chances for a successful migration. However, I believe Asus is using a new style of bios that behaves like a micro OS, so I have no idea how it will react.
Worst case scenario, I keep all my third party program files off C: and on another partition, so I can always just format the C: partition and start fresh with min data loss but I enjoy doing things the hard way and figured I would give it a shot doing the swap first before I resorted to wiping the OS.
Any techies had much luck doing such a swap? Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
Here is a nice guide that I think will meet your needs and covers all the various types of approaches and conditions. Easier than asking you a bunch of questions to determine what approach you should take. Good luck!
That link should pretty much sum it up for you. Just to add, the ONLY piece of hardware that makes this procedure the pain that it is is the hard drive controller, the motherboard itself, RAM, BIOS, nor video card are factors, it's the hard drive controller chipset on the motherboard that's the problem. I've successfully switched hardware from an AMD based system to an Intel based system without needing a repair installation, it's all in the preparation.
Thanks for the link Nomander, between that one and another I found, I think I'll be able to do this swap without too many issues. I totally forgot about another little tool that may help as well.
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I have swapped motherboards several times. The key is preparation of the old system before taking out the old motherboard.
There is a SYSPREP tool on the XP CD.
You may need to extract files from the Windows XP CD, files are located at CD:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\ in a cab file called DEPLOY.CAB. The files are Sysprep.exe and Setupcl.exe.
With the old motherboard still intact:
You run sysprep and "RESEAL" Windows XP.
Then you put the new board in, and it re-activates Windows XP and populates the device manager list.
Most OEM windows operating systems will only work on the motherboard it was originally installed on - you cannot transfer it, won't work, even with the same type motherboard....
but if I understand you correctly you have done this before to this copy of XP, so my above statement won't apply.
Most OEM windows operating systems will only work on the motherboard it was originally installed on - you cannot transfer it, won't work, even with the same type motherboard....
but if I understand you correctly you have done this before to this copy of XP, so my above statement won't apply.
That applies ONLY to OEM licenses purchased with an OEM PC such as Dell, HP, etc. An OEM license purchased from a vendor such as Newegg is not tied to anything, it is merely the license agreement that dictates that it cannot be installed on a different PC than the original, it will install just fine on any computer that supports it, activation is a different story.
That applies ONLY to OEM licenses purchased with an OEM PC such as Dell, HP, etc. An OEM license purchased from a vendor such as Newegg is not tied to anything, it is merely the license agreement that dictates that it cannot be installed on a different PC than the original, it will install just fine on any computer that supports it, activation is a different story.
Thank you Captain Obvious. I thought my post ("originally installed in") and my caviat ("copy of XP") where clear enough not to require any further clarification.
Thank you Captain Obvious. I thought my post ("originally installed in") and my caviat ("copy of XP") where clear enough not to require any further clarification.
You obviously thought wrong, your post was not clear enough, my additional info was for the benefit of the OP, it's not my fault you can't explain it properly, believe it or not even YOU aren't perfect, although you do seem to have a major attitude problem.
Well, I'm back and a full system swap is finished, but not without a couple of glitches...
First off, extracting the SYSPREP tool from the WindowsXP pro .CAB files (on install disk) worked like a champ and it fired up right off without a hitch. The problem showed up when I clicked on menu>programs (EMPTY) ruht roh scooby...
Well after pulling up win explorer which I use more than anything, all my files were there, all the trees, etc... were fine, but when I fired it up the first time it asked for product key, then asked to put in an administrators password, then the usual list of account names, to which I added mine back. I think this is where I goofed.
Anyway, I had to jiggle the permissions and associate my main log in to have permission to do anything. Why this wouldn't work by just verifying that my log in account was set as an admin with full permissions in the comp/admin tools, I have no idea, but... its working and I'll probably find a few things to tweak over the next week but all in all, it worked like a charm.
I did notice upon installing that my video card PCIE 2.0 512 DDR3 with HDMI/HDTV output/S-Vid (ATI Radeon 4830) says it needs min 450W power supply, but I'm running it on a 425W PS, and so far seems ok but I doubt I'll be overclocking it or anything of the sort. As much as I hate fans and even more so on a video card, this sucker has a huge fan, at least 60mm and is pretty quiet so far.
In the end, I'm stunned really, I expected this to give me far more trouble than it did, so I guess I should just knock on wood.
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