Resolved Changing a motherboard using existing HD.

The motherboard on my standby PC seems to have died - well there is NO video output and I have tried two different video cards which work in other PCs - has anyone encountered this before?

Anyway I have a spare motherboard but don't want to have to reinstall everything again.
Is it possible to change the motherboard using the existing hard drive(s) and everything to work as it did before? I did a similar thing years ago but Windows complained and I ended up reformatting and reinstalling.

I have found an article somewhere which suggests that it is possible but you have to boot the system using the Windows XP installation disk which will detect the existing (x) installation and then allow you to REPAIR. Is this true?
Thanks

 

If your spare motherboard is identical to the current one, you should be able to install all your existing hardware to it without any problem. When you start it, XP will see it as the same as previous and it will run OK. Neil.

 

No it's a different motherboard manufacturer.

 

If your hardware will install to the motherboard as previous there should be no prblem. CPU, Graphics, RAM, and providing no drastic alteration with drivers, it should still be acceptable. Neil.

I rebuild and/or upgrade my PC all the time. How many changes can I make before I have to reactivate Windows XP?
The Windows XP Product Activation Code is based on a combination of 10 system hardware settings, including CPU, NIC card, RAM, Video card, sound card, etc., If your machine has a PCMCIA slot (most laptops), you can change 9 of the 10 items before you need to reactivate XP. For most desktop systems, you can change up to six items, however changing the same component repeatedly counts only as one change. Also, adding additional components doesn't count as a change. If you purchased a new PC with Windows XP preloaded from the manufacturer, the product ID is linked to the BIOS, so you can technically change as many hardware components as you wish, as long as you don't change the system BIOS.

 

I think that I may have not explained myself properly.

Every time hardware is either added or changed Windows detects that hardware has changed and automatically attempts to install the necessary drivers.

I thought that when a motherboard is changed then Windows (in order to prevent users from copying itself) detects that the motherboard has changed and assumes that the entiire PC is different. As motherboards do not have drivers (apart from onboard audio, lan etc) then Windows spits the dummy and refuses to run. Well that's what seems to have happened last time I tried to install the primary hard drive containing installed Windows onto a different motherboard.

I am looking for a method to allow me to do this and I am hoping that if Windows refuses to work with the new motherboard that I can boot the new system using the installation disk and do a 'repair' when Windows installation detects that Windows is already installed.

 

Thanks Pete,

An 'official' Microsoft document which states as I thought and has the instructions.

Thanks again

John

 

Thanks Pete

I have marked the thread as 'resolved'. I don't create new threads often (last one probably over 12 months ago) and so had forgotten about this.
Maybe something more noticeable than "tools" and something at the bottom of the thread instead of at the top of the thread to remind users who don't create new threads often would be a good thing to draw our attention to it/remind us of it.

 

Sorry about that.

When I get to the part that says -
<name> has just replied to a thread...
This thread is located at:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/faq.php?...

I stopped reading and simply clicked on the link.

The request is 6 lines further down the email. Maybe if it was in bold for dunderheads like me I would have noticed it. I just got too excited about finding out what information had been left for me.

Oops I have created threads on other sites (eg Corel User to User Web Board etc) which also may have the same request. I will need to check that out next time I start a thread.