Swaping motherboards from underneath windows - IS THIIS POSSIBLE?

[something clever]

I've got a few friends and family members that are asking me to build, or upgrade, new systems for them. none have an independent OS, just that bundled proprietary **** that won't load on anything other than a Dell, Compaq, or what have you.

I'm thinking it would be slick to just reuse their existing hard drives - as they are now. That way no one has to buy Windows again, plus they don't have to reload all their Apps, files, games, etc.

So my questions are: what does Windows think about having the rug pulled out from underneath it? Seems like that kind of thing would piss it off a bit - with the different chipsets and all. how (in general) would you work around this? Anybody know any tricks?

 

[Jon]

Windows will puke all over you, call you bad names and never like you again.

More than likely, if you change motherboards, most of the other devices are going to be different too, including the type of hard drive controller, sound card, video card, additional add-ons like NICs, modems, etc., several system devices and on and on.

It is possible to get away with it by uninstalling everything possible in device manager just before moving it to newer hardware, but I am 99.9% sure you're going to run into problems and if they are asking you to build it then they are going to ask you to fix it...again and again and again.

Not to mention that OEM Windows installation disks are NOT the same as Microsoft OEM Windows installation disks. They have imbedded programs, drivers, etc that are needed. The installation you have may not like the new drivers for the new hardware you have. Especially the motherboard.

You can try if you want, but once you do it may be too late to turn back...

 

[something clever]

Thanks Jon,

yea - all valid points. but it seems to me there has to be a way. these review sites surely don't have time to do a clean install of Windows, plus all the benchmarking utilities for every board they test - do they?

 

[marty]

One way to do this is to do an installation of an updated OS before the switch. So if they are running Windows 95 go to Win 98. If Win 98 to Win 98SE. If they already have Win98 SE then your only option would be Win ME or Windows 2000.

But if you can do the OS upgrade before the MB switch you should be OK. Then as posted above remove the devices and boards before removing the hard drive. For example, remove the modem in the device manager and then pull the modem. Remove the sound card in the device manager and then pull the sound card (if there is a separated sound card.)

Most importantly, if you are going to upgrade the video look at the instructions for the new card. Likely they will tell you to change to plain VGA before pulling the old card and installing the new. You will have to change to plain VGA if you want an easy install to a new motherboard with a new video card.

Finally, I would consider buying a 7200 RPM Maxtor 30 gig HD. These are available for about $130 on sale. They are quick and quiet. You can copy the old hard drive in its entirety to the new Maxtor and then make whatever changes you need to (as outlined above) on the new Maxtor in the old machine. Move the new HD to the new machine. If everything craps out you still have the old machine working fine with the old hard drive as you don't ever have to change one bit on the old hard drive (you can leave the Dell or HP or Compaq crap on the old one).

Where there is a will there is a way. It depends on how much time you have as to whether you should tackle this problem. I like to do this type of thing but it could drive some people up the wall.

 

[Big Lar]

I do it all the time/ just remove everything from device manager in safe mode, and shut down, do not restart... swap out the board, bootup, let windows find your stuff, and have your drivers ready for an install.

 

[something clever]

YOU GUYS ROCK. great info, especially experimenting on a duplicate of the system. thanks a lot!

 

[marty]

One minor complication concerning buying a new 30 gig drive is that the BIOS in the old COMCRAP or DULL may not support such a large drive. If not you will be prompted to load their program to both the new and the old hard drive.

On the new motherboard you won't need the extra program (I think Maxtor might call their's Easy BIOS or something similar). Once everything on the new system is working you can unload Easy BIOS. If you have trouble doing the unload Maxtor will help you by phone. Although I am a bit weary of their phone advice as compared to the first time they helped me out back in 1995 or so. It would be best to unload Easy-BIOS on your own if you can understand the intructions.

 

[markedmundb]

From March 2001's PCPlus (UK computer Mag) Total Upgrade Feature:

[2]Just before you turn off your PC to perform the upgrade, run REGEDIT. Delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum folder, and everything beneath it. This will remove Windows' record of you hardware and force it to detect and install new drivers for your new motherboard and the rest of your hardware... [/2]

Just browsing through it again today and came across the article... How's that for luck :¬)}

 

[something clever]

yes - this might be the jackpot. I'm going to read that article. thanks for writing.

 

[soro]

You can do it with no problems whatsoever. You should however make a Ghost image of your drive beforehand just in case you wanted to return everything back to how it was (the most useful utility software in world is Ghost) . Personally I always like to compleltely reformat my hard drive (every 6 months or so) and re-install everything again. You won't beleive how many registry changes and unused DLL's get stuck all around your computer that are not needed. Re-installing everything makes everything run somehow faster. Think of it like an oil and filter change for your car.

 

[wild_andy_c]

....tis is possible but not recommended. Try installing windows over the top of itself. Not perfect but better than just changing .INF files and AGP drivers if necessary

 

[Mr B]

I've done it and had it work ok, and the also had it totally f* up my registry.

It's kind of a crapshoot. Don't know, but that article mentioned above sounds like it would work.

Mr B