cpu changing

Hey this is my first time so be gentle with me. I am going to change a 2880 amd to a different mb and put a 2200 in it's place ,building it for a student. will it work or will i need to change out hdd and system after i replace it

Changing the cpu should not make any difference to hardware but clear the cmos for default settings in the bios if you have been overclocking. I had to format the HDD when i replaced my motherboard but you not replacing the mobo.

thank you. i was hoping i wouldn't have to reformat. so i should definitely back it up b 4 i start messin'

I did something quite similar, and changing from one AXP core to another doesn't need to reinstall windows. Its just when you swap the motherboard to one with another chipset.. this gives some serious driver issues.. but changing from one nforce2 to another nforce2 is also no problem.