Upgrading system and keeping Original installation of XP

i am wondering if this is possible, i know that i can replace the motherboard withour having to do it, but what if it is a new Motherboard, Processor, memory and Graphics?

thanks.

 

Doing an over the top repair install should work ok. It will keep all your settings, apps and data. You’ll obviously have to install some drivers for your new hardware. A full XP CD is required of course and you will have to Activate XP again. Just back up your data before hand as nothing is certain. To be extra sure you should use the ‘File and Settings Transfer Wizard’ to backup what you can from your XP install, just incase you do have to do a full new install.

I’ve had the repair install work with the hard drive moved to a new computer and even with an image taken from one computer and restored in another.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

But I believe the most important thing is to not let it boot directly to the HD the first time.

I copied the 40gig that is in my Wifes' machine to an 80gig. Plugged it in here and booted to a floppy and did an over top re-installed the OS. ( 98SE at the time ) It now has XP pro on it.

BillyBob

 

I highly recommend PeteC's second link, click on the "Windows XP" link and follow the "solution #2" -->

Solution 2; In-Place Upgrade to force hardware re-detection:

I used this proceedure many times for both XP and 2K and it has always worked properly although it takes up to 90 min.

Good luck
Top Dog

 

Thanks alot, appreciated, will let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks.

 

3) Boot the system from the WinXP CD. Have your CDKEY ready.

4) Select the "Install" option. (Don't select repair! The first repair option only verifies XP files against the XP CD versions and makes no system setting changes).

does the windows cd have to be a retail version or will an OEM cd be alright?

 

its an OEM CD same as what you can find on ebuyer and many other sites and shops, i will backup my hdd anyway just would be nice to be able to work around formatting and doing a clean install. I'll give it ago, worth a try and that site looks perfect for help, thanks