Upgrading MB/CPU: Reinstall XP or not?

[ChadC]

I'll be upgrading my motherboard/CPU and graphics card soon but I'd like to leave my operating system and applications installed on the hard drive(s) that I'll be re-using so I don't have to reinstall everything.

Is this advisable? i.e., can I just hook up my old hard drives to the new system, install the new motherboard and video drivers and expect things to work ok? I know that I will likely have to re-activate XP but this would be minor in comparison to having to reload everything all over.

If this is feasible, is there a suitable guide out there for doing this?

 

[XxNightfirexX]

I'll be upgrading my motherboard/CPU and graphics card soon but I'd like to leave my operating system and applications installed on the hard drive(s) that I'll be re-using so I don't have to reinstall everything.

Is this advisable? i.e., can I just hook up my old hard drives to the new system, install the new motherboard and video drivers and expect things to work ok? I know that I will likely have to re-activate XP but this would be minor in comparison to having to reload everything all over.

If this is feasible, is there a suitable guide out there for doing this?

Although it is possible, it's not advisable. With a mobo/cpu change, there's no guarantee the pc will even boot into windows. Even if you can boot, it's very possible that programs won't work properly, and you may not find out there's an issue until you lose data. I'm no expert on this by any means, so someone else will have to chime in on where the main problems lie, but I'ld suspect there would registry setting issues with drivers and such that could make the system as a whole quite unstable.

With a major system upgrade like this, I'ld suggest backing up any data you want to save (pictures, mp3's, movies, game saves, etc..), and doing a fresh install of everything. If you're like me and tend to install alot of things just to try them out, you'll find a fresh install can give you a nice performance boost just from cleaning out all the added garbage that hangs around even after uninstalling software.

 

[CGR]

Ditto what Nightfire said. When replacing a MB always do a new OS install. You save yourself so much trouble and maintain the performance you expect out of the hardware.

 

[ChadC]

Sounds good - just trying to avoid the hassle.

I've always started from scratch on other major system upgrades but I have everything running pretty smoothly on my existing system so I was trying to avoid the hassle. I will have quite a bit of stuff to reinstall so it will take a while to start with a "blank slate."

Thanks for the replies.

 

[PrarieD0G]

Hmm... I've heard you can Repair Reinstall windows and it will keep your existing settings and files (wiping drivers clean). Perhaps something to look into..

 

[RollingThunder]

Ditto what Nightfire said. When replacing a MB always do a new OS install. You save yourself so much trouble and maintain the performance you expect out of the hardware.

Chad,

I agree with Nightfire. You're only kidding yourself by not doing a fresh reinstall specific to your new board and you'll never know what your missing with a repair fix. Just my two cents.....