BleepingComputer.com: Processor upgrade, XP Pro

Hello,

I'm considering an upgrade from a C2D E6600 to an I3 540 (and a new compatible mobo).

Some people tell me I will have to reformat C:, I've seen in the WEB a Win repair is all it takes.

Your opinion, pls?

XP SP3 & updates.

Thanks,

This post has been edited by hamluis: 16 November 2010 - 12:51 PM
Reason for edit: Moved from XP to Interenal Hardware ~ Hamluis.

When you take a hdd with a Windows OS installed on it that you have been using on one computer and then install it as a master in another computer you are asking for major problems. The excerpt below is from a Intel article which describes in detail what happens. The article also mentions a reference to an article by Microsoft, it can be seen here .

"Moving a hard drive with Windows* 2000 or Windows XP* already installed to a new motherboard without reinstalling the operating system is not recommended.

If a hard drive is moved to a new computer, the registry entries and drivers for the mass storage controller hardware on the new motherboard are not installed in Windows for the new computer you may not be able to start Windows. This is documented in Microsoft's knowledge base article. This is true even if you move the hard drive to a motherboard with the same chipset, as different hardware revisions can cause this issue as well.

Additionally, moving a hard drive to a new motherboard may not exhibit any errors until you install new IDE drivers. This is because each chipset uses a different Plug-n-Play (PNP) ID to identify it. If you move your motherboard, your registry will have multiple PNP IDs (for the old hardware as well as the new hardware). If there are multiple entries in the registry, Windows cannot determine which hardware to initialize and therefore fails with a STOP error."

Alternatively, the method below can be tried, but I would back up all of your important files to removable media like CDs, DVDs, Flash drives, or a second hdd.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

Thanks, Arachibutyrophobia

I already have images of my C: partition so restoring the original install won't be a problem.

My mobo is an Intel and I feel going to another Intel will be wiser.

I will think about it. Thanks again,

It doesn't matter if this is the hdd with the operating system or a copy being placed on another hdd, the fact remains that there are entries in the registry that recognize the other motherboards chipset, and this has the potential to cause the same type of failure that I posted about.

This post has been edited by dc3: 16 November 2010 - 07:32 PM

Would this work?

- Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to save my settings and desktop (I have My Documents, etc in another partition) to my backup HD
- Change Motherboard
- Reinstall Win XP without a reformat of partition C:
- Restore settings, desktop

Thanks,

You will need to reformat the C: partition, otherwise you will install another copy of the operating system.

If you do this you will then need to install the drivers for the new motherboard. If you have a anti virus that you can install do this before going online. Then you need to go online and install SP3 and all Microsoft updates after that, this is important for security reasons.

This post has been edited by dc3: 19 November 2010 - 10:38 AM