Always reinstall software after changing mobo ?

[boblite]

(1) If I change from ASUS P4S8X-X mobo to ASUS P4P800S mobo, do I have to reinstall software or can I just plug in my hard drive to the new board and expect it to work ? Is there a chance of messing the hard drive up ?

(2) If I change from P4S8X-X to P4P800S, and I install the OS to a reformatted hard disk 1, can I recover my system from an Acronis Secure Zone located on hard disk 2 ?

 

[Rik]

Hi boblite and welcome to TechSpot.:wave:

Doing a windows repair may work.

 

[Stick'o ram]

You should be fine, if you use a windows repair like as stated. I think the big problems come in when you switch chipset brands, or from AMD to Intel. I think it is more of a problem with XP then the hardware's, Microsoft wants to make sure that you aren't distrupiting software. I remeber in the good old days of Win98 you could install hardware from any brand and it would work fine.

 

[Rik]

Its not usually the cpu that causes the problems, its usually the mobo chipset.

Windows seems to have most problems when moving to a different graphics slot. For example, when switching to a pci-e mobo it usually hangs when attempting to process agp.sys.

 

[Nodsu]

If you didn't check, the motherboards mentioned do have different chipsets from different manufacturers.

Unmodified, Windows will happily BSOD when booting. At least there is no RAID array that would be completely unworkable

 

[boblite]

Thanks so much for your advice, Rik, Stick'o ram and Nodsu. I realize now I should have pointed out at the beginning that my OS is Win 2000 Pro SP4, which will hopefully be a whole lot less picky than XP.

Thanks especially for the point that change in chipset manufacturer is a major issue, which applies in this case because the P4S8X-X has SIS chipset while the P4P800S has Intel chipset.

Thanks also for the point that change from PCI to AGP slot could be a big issue (not in this case since both boards use AGP).

From what you say it's not a good idea just to plug in the drive and expect it to work.

Instead, when I get the new mobo (P4P800S) how about if I install Win2K Pro SP4 to a reformatted hard disk 1, install all the P4P800S drivers, and then try to recover all the C: partition software from an Acronis Secure Zone located on hard disk 2 to partition C: on hard disk 1 ?

 

[Nodsu]

I don't think you can choose what to restore from Secure Zone. It will overwrite all the old stuff and put back everything, including the OS and drivers.

If you really want to keep your existing setup, you should move your old drive the the new motherboard and try to boot Windows just for the heck of it

If the previous fails, boot the Windows installation CD and choose to do a repair install. (Say "install" in the first prompt and "repair" in the second IIRC). Windows will be reinstalled with most of your settings intact.

 

[boblite]

Thanks Nodsu. Looks like I should have got a motherboard identical to the one I've got, namely the P4S8X-X. Looks like I falsely reasoned that if I stayed within the ASUS brand I'd get "plug compatibility".