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Reinstalling Windows xp

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tacka

New Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2002
Hi I'm a newbie to all the overclocking stuff
but 1st things 1st i have just purchased an athlon xp 2000+ and an Abit Kr7a mobo.
Would i need to reinstall windows xp since my previous chip was an athlon 1.2?
would i have to have a fresh installation or re-installation and what options do i choose to reinstall windows xp on the installation screen.

I havent installed any additional drivers yet , hpt 37x or via 4in1.

is it best to leave them after the windowsxp re-install?
 
first of all wrong place to post this ? second of all i would just do a new install myself but this is my opinion not what to do.
 
Some people have said that since the tbird does not have SSE support and the XP does it is necessary to reinstall windows in order for windows to detect the SSE support. I dont really know if thats true or not but I dont believe it. If you have installed a new motherboard and CPU then a reinstall would be a good idea but if its working now then its not totally necessary.

yes i think you should install the via 4in1s and also do windows update as there is a patch for the amd xp line of processors (its in the drivers section after you scan for updates). I wouldnt worry about the raid drivers right now but installing them shouldnt hurt anything.

after the driver installs download either WCPUID or Sisoft Sandra or both (search on google and you will find them). When you run WCPUID it will tell you if SSE support is detected (not SSE2, no AMD CPUs support SSE2 as of yet). In Sandra run the CPU and BIOS information module, then scroll down the info for processor 1 and look for SSE technology. if there is a green checkmark beside it then SSE is detected.

If both of those detect SSE then I dont think it will be necessary to reinstall, if its not detected then it would probably be worth your while. If you have installed a new motherboard and cpu then it would be good to do a fresh install of win XP, meaning format the hard drive and install windows. keep in mind that will erase everything on that partition of the hard drive so back up everything you want to keep b4 you begin. post back if you decide to reinstall or format and need more help. oh yeah and....

Welcome to the Forum
 
Id say dont. I had a 1.4 T-Bird and then i bought a 1600+, installed it and WinXP detected it. Ran Sandra and it detected my cpu and SSE support. Try Sandra like DaddyB, see if it detects it, if so, your good to go.
 
reinstalling windows xp

Thanks for the advice, man you guys are quick so i appreciate it, i installed both WCPUID and sandra's have detected SSE. I think i'd just install the windows patch for xp and the 4in1 drivers as well. I would consider a fresh install but how do back up programs i have installed?

thanks for the advice guys
 
thats the problem with formating and installing, trying to find and remember everything you want to keep.

usually you cant back up installed programs, what you have to do is find the installer for the program. so if you downloaded sisoft sandra for example and wanted to back it up you have to find the file that installed it, not the file thats in c:/program files/sisoft. for the most part if you back up whats in the program files folder then copy them back after the format/install it will not work.

other things that you might want to back up are saved games (if you are a gamer), mp3s, your bookmarks in IE (sorry your "favorites", its bookmarks in netscape), pictures, driver updates and software updates.... I have found that no matter what, no matter how long i spend trying to back up everything I always forget something.

If everything is working alright there is no real need to do a fresh install, SSE is detected and thats the main thing. maybe just try to remember that you do intend to format someday and from time to time try to back up what you know you want to keep so you wont miss anything really important. I usually decide im going to format and try to back up everything and then wait a few weeks b4 i actually format so i can get close to everything i want backed up... then again I format and reinstall about every 3-4 months on average.

Im just trying to say there is no rush to format, so take your time to make sure you do it right. everything is working perfectly so why bother but just be prepaired for when you really have to do it. ;)
 
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