Changing Mainboard without reinstalling XP

[ice78991]

When building a new PC I've always wanted to avoid having to reinstall XP for the new board so I bought 2 identical MSI boards ( when 1 blows I can replace like for like )

I am currently using an MSI mainboard ( socket 478 P4 ) and I am thinking of building a backup PC with a newer MSI mainboard Socket 775 P4

Is it likely that I could simply transfer the hard drive from 1 PC to the other and would it boot up normally on both?

 

[ice78991]

A related question would be is it better to buy whichever board you want and then use the xp repair install. I have read that this will only change hardware setting but keep your registry settings intact.

Are there any issues / gotachas associated with a repair install ?

 

[JSD7878]

My thoughts on this is that you will most likely have problems doing this, if the motherboard and chip set are exact or extremely close then you may get away with it, however from my own experience it generally cause conflicts so my preferred method is to do a fresh install.

 

[BadBigBen]

See:

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

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125

See my reply in the following thread:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1254813

it has worked for me, when I switched from a Dual AthlonXP board over to a Dual Opteron board, one with VIA chipset and the other nVidia...

reactivation is necessary, and install of drivers for the new chipset afterwards...





Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."