What would happen

what would happen if i added a new mobo and cpu to my comp and had my old hardrives and everything connected and started up. what would happen?

Most likely nothing would happen (nothing bad, that is), depending on your OS. For instance, if you're using XP, it would probably recognize the new harware and install what it needed automatically. For other OS's, you might have to install the new drivers for the mobo. Either way, it's no big deal, and it shouldn't pose any problems

It really depends on how different the old board/chip combo is from the new.

I did that in WinXP and everything was pretty much a jumbled mess. It would start and log in (barely) but I had to do manual patches on so many things that I finally gave up and reformatted and did a fresh install.

Honestly the safest and best way, especially with Win.

DWolf

i have a intel board now. im getting a abus or abit board. as long as it starts up i can just install the new drivers right?

I wouldn't be too sure. When windows installs it sets up ALOT of registry settings based on the chip and motherboard configuration. When you change chip and MOBO, the new ones will be recognized and settings installed for them, but the old settings don't magically go away, and there are often many conflicts between the old and new settings.

And thats just for hardware. Then you have all the conflicts for software that will be affected by the differences in how the motherboard recognizes your peripherals.

Honestly, I would advise save all your settings files, documents, saved games, etc. Reformat, install fresh, then reload your progs and copy over your saved material. Safest way to make sure you don't pull your hair out and lose access to these forums.

DWolf

**edit**
PS: The only way I can think of that might let you get away with it, is to remove all the old hardware in the System Properties / Hardware. Then swap the mobo and chip in the middle of the 'reboot' process'. That should minimize conflicts.

Good Luck

yea but the thing is will i be able to use my gateway winxp disc to reformat or even repair if i need to? basically i dont mind calling microsoft to get a activation key BUT will it even get to that point?

Honestly I don't know. I've tried to use a Dell disk in a new system and it failed, but I'm still not certain whether it was the disk or HSF related issue.

You might want to PM the mod in charge of this section. If they don't know the answer, they will know where to direct you to look.

DWolf

**edit**

The mod for this section is RED Hot Machine.

i dont see any possible way for a disc to be smart enough to know not to know when to install. it should install fine but i probably just need a new activation key which i can get from microsoft

The disk is indeed dumb, but many computer manufacturers get specialized disks from MS that only have the drivers for their hardware and have many of the settings preloaded into a 'regestry' that is loaded during the install.

Not all CDs are created equal.

DWolf

its worth a try right? nothing bad can happen right? i mean if i try to start with everything the way it is now it wont get fried right?

Zatrix said:

its worth a try right? nothing bad can happen right? i mean if i try to start with everything the way it is now it wont get fried right?

Click to expand...

I've learned the hard way that starting a project with those words is a sure recipe for disaster. If you're willing to risk losing all your data, then jump right in, but I would honestly PM the mod to get more info before starting.

I've had to reformat and reload my entire system from scratch at least a dozen times and at least half those times I was sure the changes I was making couldn't cause anything bad to happen.

Just don't want to see you get burned.

DWolf

I have an old compaq cd that when I tried to use it in a different computer it gave me an error, not a compaq computer, and wouldnt load, i think it might be because of the quick restore partition that came with the computer

Fisrt off If the new motherboard has a different Chipset than the Motherboard you are useing now then you will have problems. Like lets say you have a Nforce2 chipset motherboard and you are just upgradeing to a better motherboard that also uses a nForce2 chipset then you will be more than like fine. But if you have a Via chipset and upgradeing to a Nforce2 chipset then you will have problems. Cpu's are usually fine. As long as you are staying within the same generation. Amd xp 2100 to a amd xp 3200 would be ok. Or pP4 2.4 upgraded to a 3.2 would be fine.

Secondly, a Compaq, HP, Dell ect.. Restore/repair cd's are system specific. You can not use a restore disk on a brand new Hard drive that you just got from newegg or bestbuy. And you cant use a Dell restore cd on a HP or vise versa.

but its a blue operating system disc from gateway and i have 2 hardrives. one that came with comp the other i bought

does that make any difference?

NO...

the disk you have is geared specifically to the motherboard and chip in addition to the peripherals. Just because you were able to add a HD without problems does not mean that you'll be able to swap motherboards without problems. And you almost certainly won't be able to reload the system using that disk. Regular Win XP disks are silver with holographic images. If your using a colored one, it's probably system specific.

DWolf

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=318159

might wanna check this out