Hi all;I have a Gigabyte GA-K8NS Socket 754 Athlon 64 3200+ DTR CPU,and 1 Gig of OCZ Gold Dual channel ram.This is what I have now.all running fine now windows xp pro...I want to install a Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 Motherboard and a Athlon 64 4000+ CPU............Can I do this without loosing whats on my C: drive???? I don't want to reformat if I don't have to...Maybe if I uninstall all in the device manager,put the board in,go to setup,setup,and just let windows boot to the new motherboard and chip??........Ya I Know,What do you guy's think is it possible?Please Reply Thanks in Advance.
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installing a new motherboard same make but newer? 2
- Thread starter lordgalla
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- #2
Changing your motherboard won't effect whats on you c:\drive. Windows will detect the new motherboard. However, you may have to take the following into consideration;
Was your computer a pre-built system from Dell or the like? These computers usually come with the Installed Operating System locked to the hardware, and making a major change like this probably isn't possible. A search of this site on similar subjects will tell you if Software is availble to get round this problem.
You may get a forced XP Ativation, because of a major change to the system
In this case make sure you have the Activation Code available. Also bear in mind the Activation Code usually only allows three changes. After that , you have to contact Microsoft for a new code. The details will come up on screen as the computer boots up.
ASG
Was your computer a pre-built system from Dell or the like? These computers usually come with the Installed Operating System locked to the hardware, and making a major change like this probably isn't possible. A search of this site on similar subjects will tell you if Software is availble to get round this problem.
You may get a forced XP Ativation, because of a major change to the system
In this case make sure you have the Activation Code available. Also bear in mind the Activation Code usually only allows three changes. After that , you have to contact Microsoft for a new code. The details will come up on screen as the computer boots up.
ASG
Johnthephoneguy
Technical User
Even if you have to contact microsoft it is an easy process. Just explain you changed the MB and they will give you a series of digits to enter and then you will be good to go.
JohnThePhoneGuy
"If I can't fix it, it's not broke!
JohnThePhoneGuy
"If I can't fix it, it's not broke!
- Thread starter
- #4
Na,it's not a Dell or anything like that prebuilt.I built the computer myself,from the ground up,and just want to change the motherboard and chip to this new board,without having to reinstall windows xp pro.and was wondering the best way to do this?? Should I clean out the device manager before I shut down the pc,to start the change over? and should I just let the new board boot normal into windows,or use safe mode for the first boot?...I just don't want it to lock up booting after installing the new board and chip.
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lordgalla
My take on this:
Both motherboards are using the same Nforce3 chipset so the basic drivers are the same.
What I would do is research into any periferal chip differences ie: is the audio/lan/firewire etc using the same addon (onboard) chips.
As you say, uninstall that driver, for example if the lan uses a different chip between the motherboards then uninstall that driver before the board change over.
I'm guessing with careful observation (uninstalling those 1 or 2 drivers) this swap over will be pretty straight forward.
Just visit Gigabytes website, go to the drivers web page for each board, write down each driver number and cross reference between the two.
Martin
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My take on this:
Both motherboards are using the same Nforce3 chipset so the basic drivers are the same.
What I would do is research into any periferal chip differences ie: is the audio/lan/firewire etc using the same addon (onboard) chips.
As you say, uninstall that driver, for example if the lan uses a different chip between the motherboards then uninstall that driver before the board change over.
I'm guessing with careful observation (uninstalling those 1 or 2 drivers) this swap over will be pretty straight forward.
Just visit Gigabytes website, go to the drivers web page for each board, write down each driver number and cross reference between the two.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
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- #6
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aparazi,Would you boot into safe mode after setup in bios,or just let it go into windows xp pro. and find new hadware,after I do all above?As long as you are confident of removing those different drivers "if there are any" I would just let Windows do it's thing.
As I said, the hardware is so close I would bet you will have little or know problems.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
As I said, the hardware is so close I would bet you will have little or know problems.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
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- #9
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- #10
Hello;Just wanted to let you all know,the motherboard changeover went fine,Uninstalled the lan driver before shutdown,That was it Ide drivers where the same and so on..Now I have a 939 motherboard running a 4000+ Athlon,1 Gig dual channel Ocz Gold EL Memory,and a Ati All in Wonder X800 Xt. Windows Booted right up after bios setup.Thanks for all the help on this,Awesome.
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