Here's my noob question I have a comp running XP and I'd like to switch out the mb and cpu and new memory can I do this without reinstalling XP or with little trouble? I've changed out hd's and disc drives so taking the comp apart is not a prob I'm just hoping it will be a painless process. Thanks for any help
Noob Switching Out Motherboard
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heydockyle
New Member
Switching out the mobo will require re installation of the os.
craneop1985
New Member
If you get the motherboard with the same chipset as the old one---you probably won't have to do a re-install.
JcPcCustoms
New Member
You would need to reinstall o.s for sure
Vampiric Rouge
New Member
If you're going to be reinstalling the OS anyway, give this a shot....
Go into the Device Manager (Right click "my computer" and select "properties" Then select the "hardware" tab and pick the top option of "device manager")
From the device manager expand the tree view of "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". Right click each one listed under that tree and hit "uninstall". After you uninstalled them all do your hardware changes. Then reboot computer after upgrade and see if XP works. If it boots into XP it will auto find the IDE/ATA channels again and attempt to upgrade the drivers. You might have to install the new Motherboards chip set for this to work...
If all else fails and you blue screen you only lost about 10 minutes of time...
Go into the Device Manager (Right click "my computer" and select "properties" Then select the "hardware" tab and pick the top option of "device manager")
From the device manager expand the tree view of "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". Right click each one listed under that tree and hit "uninstall". After you uninstalled them all do your hardware changes. Then reboot computer after upgrade and see if XP works. If it boots into XP it will auto find the IDE/ATA channels again and attempt to upgrade the drivers. You might have to install the new Motherboards chip set for this to work...
If all else fails and you blue screen you only lost about 10 minutes of time...
schw32m
New Member
Actually you have to go a little more in depth than that.. You also have to remove/change all chipset specific drivers to generic drivers. It is a doable procedure but it is sort of complex, not 100% reliable and depending on whether you have an OEM or retail install there may be EULA issues. If it is OEM you can do it but there may be technical problems if MS decides to be picky about it since technically it is violation of the EULA to transfer the operating system that way. From my experience I have never had a problem with an OEM transfer. But sometimes you may have to call MS to get it to validate.
For retail it doesn't matter.. install/change away as long as that particular key is only used on one computer at a time.
Be aware, that you will have to re-activate/validate XP again no matter what you do..
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That sounds a little to involved for me so I'll just reinstall the os but thanks for the help
I plan on putting together another comp with the left overs so everyone will stay off my comp
Vampiric Rouge
New Member
I didn't realize that. I wonder why you can do it for a retail but the OEM boxes you can't. Very interesting and thank you for that new bit of knowledge.
schw32m
New Member
With retail you can move the op system from box to box and MS doesn't care as long as the key is only active on one box or motherboard at a time. MS's only concern is that you are not trying to use that key on multiple computers at the same time.
but the OEM boxes you can't. Very interesting and thank you for that new bit of knowledge.
With OEM the license is for the entire unit (the box). Specifically it is tied to the motherboard and IIRR the EULA does not allow the MB to be changed from anything beyond the exact OEM replacement. You can change drives, video cards, CPUs and just about anything else except the motherboard in an OEM system and MS won't care. Where you might run into a problem is when you change the MB to something different and use the OEM key (or COA) from the original system.
Google the procedures on OEM re-installations. There are a lot of articles that explain the legalese of the OEM EULA better than I can and ways to deal with it legitimately (activations and WGA authentication) as far as MS is concerned.
Side Note: While I would not do this again nor recommend it professionally, on a personal level I have moved OEM op systems around on a couple of different machines in the past.
In the first instance I reworked an HP system with a dead HDD and a seriously ugly case. Put it in a new case and re-installed the OEM software using the key from the HP box. Took the COA sticker off the HP box and put it inside the new case. Essentially nothing changed except the HDD, the case and the video card, but the MB was still the same as the original system. It activated and WGA authenticated with no problems.
Second instance I had an eMachines T series that had a dead Trigem P4 MB in it. It sat on the storage rack for about six months before I got a PC Chips A33G MB with an Athlon 64 x2 CPU for it. Put that MB in the original eMachines case, re-installed the OEM XP, used the key on the box and it also activated and WGA authenticated with no problem.
Two different situations granted, but in either case did I violate the OEM EULA?
In the first with HP, yes I probably did because I moved the COA sticker to the new case even though the essential hardware didn't change. This system has since been retired and is no longer active.
In the second case it is a little more of a gray area since the MB change went back into the original case and the system had sat inactive for 6 months prior to the change. This system is still in active use.
I'm pretty sure that if Microsoft really wanted to make an issue of it they might find that the changes were a violation of the OEM EULA. But both machines ran flawlessly and as far as WGA was concerned were fully authenticated and the keys were legitimately purchased or transferred to me.
Point being that it can be done if you follow the proper procedures.