abit vt7 mobo

No real need to flash the BIOS - the new board should have a fairly uptodate version.

No need to reformat, but as you have changed the mobo - which may not be absolutely identical you may need to make a repair install of XP, which I assume you are running .....

How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

 

Good luck

 

Looking around the suppliers on the internet it would seem that the abit vt7 is discontinued and no doubt this is the reason that you have been supplied with another board.

Looking at the specs of the asrock p4i65g I see it is a micro ATX board, smaller as you have noted than your existing board. It may not line up with the mounting points, etc your existing case. I would speak with the supplier.

If you decide to use this board your existing memory would appear to be compatible, but do read the manual on this regards the memory speed and the FSB setting. I would use 1 x 256 + 1 x 512 memory modules even though that board will run dual memory (2 x 256 or 2 x 512, but I doubt that your 256 modules are a matched pair)

Another point which you should be very aware of is this. When you (very carefully) remove the heatsink from the CPU you must clean off all the old thermal paste and replace with new, otherwise the processor will overheat and is likely to be irreparably damaged in seconds when you next power it up.

I see that you list yourself as a beginner - are you absolutely sure that you can manage a rebuild like this? I don't want to scare you off this rebuild, just to make you aware that it is not perhaps as straightforward as you might imagine

 

A wise decision I think, but don't be downhearted, better safe than sorry and I admire you taking advice, realising your limitations/experience and acting accordingly I wish more folk would do the same.

Another word of caution - do be sure to give the tech your copy of XP, make sure that that is the copy used for the repair install and that it is returned to you. There have been too many cases of computer shops using a pirated copy for such purposes and this would cause you a lot of grief further down the line regarding updates, validation, etc.