Easy to move XP install from 845 to 865 chipset?

Guess I am a little lazy, but it takes me about 3 days to reinstall WinXP. I am getting a 865 chipset but my OS is on a 845 chipset, and it is a good install of WinXP. Is there anything that prevents me from easily moving the XP install to the 865 chipset? I am aware that the hard drive and raid needs its' own files installed also. However I am running an addon Promise RAID card and those files will already be installed on the WinXP install, so the hard drives shouldn't be a problem. Meaning I will not be using the mobos SATA, RAID or headers for my hard drives. So would it be possible to just install the Promise card and hookup the HDs, then load WinXP and finally add the new chipset files?

Thanks,
Mike

windows activation is something that you CAN'T avoid

powerme said:

windows activation is something that you CAN'T avoid

Click to expand...

I'm legit so that shouldn't be a hold up.
But what about simply moving my install to a 865 chipset?
I'll be going from a Asus P4PE to a Asus P4P800.

Thanks,
Mike

it should not be a problem at all. If you are lucky, windows xp will detect new chip and install driver for it

make sure you download intel chipset first

i moved from iwill workstation to abit ic7 without reinstalling everything.

a smooth transaction

"make sure you download intel chipset first"

Well it seemed smooth until you said the above.
I thought I could install the chipset drivers from the Asus CD after I got the new mobo and HDs going.....

I don't think it is possible to DL the chipset drivers and install on the 845 before I change mobos.

Thanks,
Mike

i always download intel chipset from intel web site because it is NEW compared to the one on CD

after you download this chipset and winxp can't install the new driver for new chipset, all you have to do is double click this intel chipset and restart computer and everything is done.

intel chipset covers all chipset including old and new

Whenever I change motherboards, I do a Windows XP Repair (not the same thing as a re-install).

Change BIOS to boot CD as 1st device.
Save changes and boot from XP CD.

When the CD installs the necessary drivers, a box will come up asking it you want to enter setup to install XP.
Choose yes.

Another box will come up asking if you agree with the agreement.
Choose to accept.

Another page will come up with some options. Choose R for repair.

What repair does is essentially wipe out Device Manager and re-install everything from scratch. This is a nice clean method of not having anything left over from the previous install and you still have all your programs and settings untouched. One thing this method does though is take you back to XP without the service pack. You have to then install it again along with all your updates.

If you have a standard XP CD, make a slipstream CD from it to include the SP1a, this makes it a lot easier to then just have to update a few remaining hotfixes. Here is a good link to making a slipstream XP CD.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstream_01.htm

I have made about 6 of them and they all work like a charm.

Mike89,
About the way you described this Repair; Wouldn't that way of Repairing the install, wiping out Device Manager, also mean one would have to reinstall ALL their other programs even though they were left on the HD? I mean wouldn't all those programs still have to be re-associated with Windows?

Thanks,
Mike

when you do a repair, what happens is that all the device drivers are reinstalled, plus all the system files. what are kept are all your previously installed programs and settings.

it's a bit like an upgrade really.

but first see what happens if you try to boot the present installation. There's the chance that it could boot, and then ask for drivers.

if it gives you a BSOD while booting, then go with the repair method, like Mike89 explained.

Basically, the option to Repair should come up after you press F8 to agree to the licence, when it scans the hard disk for previous installations.

shiyan said:

when you do a repair, what happens is that all the device drivers are reinstalled, plus all the system files. what are kept are all your previously installed programs and settings.

it's a bit like an upgrade really.

but first see what happens if you try to boot the present installation. There's the chance that it could boot, and then ask for drivers.

if it gives you a BSOD while booting, then go with the repair method, like Mike89 explained.

Basically, the option to Repair should come up after you press F8 to agree to the licence, when it scans the hard disk for previous installations.

Click to expand...

Wow this is good, I've learned a lot!--Thanks
Anyhow what about all the drivers that was in Device Manager that I had installed seperately, like Scanners, Digital Cameras, Printer,....etc..... Would those drivers be left in the Windows System Folder and automatically be found again, without me reinstalling those drivers?

This is really good stuff here!
Thanks again,
Mike

Mike360000 said:

Mike89,
About the way you described this Repair; Wouldn't that way of Repairing the install, wiping out Device Manager, also mean one would have to reinstall ALL their other programs even though they were left on the HD? I mean wouldn't all those programs still have to be re-associated with Windows?

Thanks,
Mike

Click to expand...

Yes all programs will have to be re-associated with windows and some even reinstalled because of missing registry and .dll's, 1 other problem if you have highspeed or any isp thats requires a username and password better go to microsoft and download the patch or you will find yourself with no internet, repair only allows network after repair one of M$ bugs And yes your drivers will be there but you might have to help find them.

Huum deeman, that still sounds like a lot of work.
Looks like I would be just as well off backing up and migrating my files and doing a new install.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I have a buddy that did that same swap, from a P4PE to a P4P800 & winxp had no hicups at all with it. I say just go for it.

I just did a win98 swap from a Asus Cusl2 to a P4PE & win98 had no problems with that (in the past win98 would barf big time with other hardware changes). The OS was just fine.

Rich

Yeah I had swapped with Win98 b4.
Biggest thing I ran across wgen swapping mobos was the HD drivers, particularly when RAID was involved. I had just never tried WinXP b4.

Anyhow it looks like I won't be trying out my original question.
I almost ordered a P4P800 but I went to the Asus forums first, just looking for things I might need to know when I changed over to the mobo. However what I saw there wasn't a pretty site concerning the P4P800. They had 1 thread, not counting the many other shorter threads, that was about 70 pages long. All that was in this thread was complaints about the mobo.

After reading all I could of them threads and posting a couple of times I decided against the mobo. Several other people were just as astonished as I was at how many problems the mobo had, and a couple of them decided agaist it also. (I posted to a couple of these people, with 1 guy sending his back without ever opening it.)

Anyhow since I had my P4 2.53 sold and I needed something, and I was satisfied with any of the 865/875 mobos, particularly for the price, I went ahead and ordered a P4 3.06 for my P4PE mobo.

This sure has been an interesting thread though, and I have learned several things.

Thanks again,
Mike

I went from an Intel 815 to 845 chipset without any problems. You need to have SP1 installed or XP could lock you out. I installed the latest Intel 800 chipset drivers just prior to moving to the 845 motherboard.