replacing motherboard and processor

[djdyal]

My motherboard and processor are about 3 years old, maybe a little more. The computer still runs great, but is a little slow due to the fact the the RAM is old, PC100, and can't be upgraded. Also, I have FIOS at 20 megabits which I am not taking full advantage of.

My question is this. Can I simply replace the motherboard, processor and RAM without disturbing the rest of the computer? By that I mean that I will reinstall the audio and video cards and the hard drives. I also plan to keep the Windows XP SP2 OS since the peripherals do not have drivers for Vista and I would just as soon leave the OS in place.

This is my office computer, so I don't need it for anything more than spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail, and Internet.

Thanks.

 

[goombawaho]

You will have basically created a new PC. If you choose the right motherboard that can use your old video card then it can physically be swapped out and function, however....

1. Most likely you will get a blue screen when you try to start your PC up, if trying to use the windows installation on the old hard drive. This would require a repair install and then you would need to activate windows because it would "know" that you had changed the motherboard (see point 2).

2. Microsoft says that if you swap out the motherboard for any reason other than a defective/dead motherboard, it is considered an upgrade. How does this affect you?? If you have an OEM computer (Dell, Gateway) that came with Windows installed or you purchased an OEM CD to build your computer, you technically (legally) cannot move the license to the "new" computer with the new motherboard.

You will certainly be asked to activate windows and it likely will NOT activate via the internet. You will be asked to call an 800 number and you may not be able to get past the Microsoft person on the other end to get an activation code.

Having said all that (from a legal perspective) - can I get away with it? If your license for Windows came with the computer, it most likely came with a generic product activation code (pre-activated at the factory along with another 1000 PCs at the same time) and the code on the side of your computer has never been used to activate windows. This means that while you would technically be in violation of Microsoft's licensing scheme, it would likely activate. Roll the dice - up to you. I am not endorsing any license violating here, merely discussing the "what's possible" vs. the EULA that comes with Windows XP. All of my licenses are legal.

 

[djdyal]

I started witha copy of Windows 98 and upgraded it to XP. The computer was construcetd by me, so the license shouldn't be an issue.

Microsoft has a fairly good outline of how to install a new motherboard. It seems, however, that you end up re-installing XP no matter which way you go.

 

[goombawaho]

If it's retail upgrade copy of XP, it's NOT legally bound to the motherboard on which it was initially activated from what I can see.

Quote from Microsoft:
"Users who run a Microsoft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) operating system may upgrade or replace most of the hardware components on the computer and still maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software provided by the OEM, with the exception of an upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard is considered to create a new personal computer. Therefore, Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect then a new computer is created, and a new operating system license is required. If the motherboard is replaced because of a defect, the user does not need to acquire a new operating system license for the computer. The motherboard replacement must be the same make and model, or the same manufacturer’s replacement or equivalent, as defined by that manufacturer’s warranty. The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user license agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by that EULA. The EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user by the computer manufacturer. The EULA relates only to rights for that software as installed on that particular computer. The System Builder is required to support the software on that individual computer.

 

[djdyal]

I read the same thing. I guess what I'm trying to avoid is re-installing Office and all of the other software. Re-installing XP, or doing a repair installation wouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[goombawaho]

A repair installation should preserve your programs and your data. Just make sure you do it the right way.

Read on:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[paparazi]

If it is using PC100 ram then we are talking at least five years old!
Ask any tek how often they recommend a clean install for optimum performance and most will say between 18months and two years.
Personally mine never reaches a year, why? well it's no big deal to re-install, 3 to 4 hours and afterwards it runs so much better.
I cannot really understand anyones reluctance to re-install when we are talking about several years of use.
The benefits far outway the effort and trying to repair install on a whole new platform is just a no brainer!.
Bite the bullit! just clean install.
Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[paparazi]

I would also add:
If this machine is circa 2000/2002 then you're gonna find that do carry out an effective platform upgrade many other things will need changing ie:

Power supply: most new motherboards use 24pins now and need 400plus watts.
Memory: again most are DDRII (latest DDR3)
Those old hard drives will be IDE100/133 and will effectively bottleneck the new platform, ideally you need a SATAII boot drive.
Also most new boards only have one IDE connection effectively 2 devices.
Most users intending to upgrade end up buying a complete new base unit and when you think about it, that makes the most sense. It leaves your existing system intact as either a second backup PC or as a going concern to SELL ON and re-coup against the cost of the new base unit.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[djdyal]

I agree with all of that except that it really runs fast enough now except for Internet, which is really slowed by the lack of RAM and the slow RAM. Also, I want to take the old motherboard and make a little computer to play music in my bedroom, a mini media center, but just for music.

 

[paparazi]

djdyal
Internet connections are very rarely slowed down by the PC itself.
If you think about your ISP's connection speed.... most domestic ISP's are lower than 8megabytes/sec and will state "up to" so very rarely deliver anything like that.
Now compare that speed to your system bus and the physical connection to the computer "ethernet" both are many times faster than your providers connection so the reality is.... internet is very rarely slowed by the PC itself.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[goombawaho]

Agree with Paparazi above that if internet speed is your only complaint, it is likely ISP-related, UNLESS you are saying that Internet Explorer/FireFox is slow to load or open new Windows/Tabs.

Page load slow = slow internet connection
Browser sluggish starting or opening new windows/tabs = PC

Try an internet speed test just to see what's going on - not 100% accurate, but try a couple to get a good estimate.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?java=1

http://helpme.att.net/dsl/speedtest/

 

[djdyal]

I built a new computer in February with 2 gigs of RAM (fastest available) and the latest, at the time, and most powerful AMD video card. The throughput along with ability to display web pages with a lot of graphic content is incredibly faster. You select a web page and it displays it instantly. My office computer also has a much slower ethernet connection.

Again, the whole idea here is to build a new media center computer. However, what I was thinking was that I would use the new motherboard and RAM in my office and use the old in the media center since it will just be playing music.

 

[kmcferrin]

I built a new computer in February with 2 gigs of RAM (fastest available) and the latest, at the time, and most powerful AMD video card. The throughput along with ability to display web pages with a lot of graphic content is incredibly faster. You select a web page and it displays it instantly. My office computer also has a much slower ethernet connection.

If you're displaying a web page with a lot of changing info, slash animations, and other performance hogging/poorly designed features (you know, like a Myspace page), then you might see some slowdown. But most modern PCs should be able to handle almost any web page with little to no delay.

To the other point, your internet connection is only as fast as its slowest link. You may have a 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps ethernet connection on your new PC, but you're not connecting to the Internet at that speed. You're connecting to either a LAN with an Internet connection, which could be cable, DSL, leased circuit, etc, or you are connecting directly to a DSL/Cable "modem" device. In either case, you'll be limited to the download speeds of the ISP, which usually range from 1.5 Mbps to 15-20 Mbps with the latest tech, like FIOS.

 

[ceh4702]

I have used the 800 number and there was no person on the other end. Microsoft only keeps that data from that for about 120 days. This has been my general experience.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[micker377]

If you want to keep everything, do a system back-up first (I use Acronis). Put it all together, do a repair install(I used my "slip-stream" CD, using the numbers from my ORIGINAL XP SP1 install CD), and then then do a system restore. I just had to do this recently when a new mother board went bad after 3weeks! I put in the old mobo, and used an old backup. When I got the replacement mobo, I did it all over again (with a current backup to match the newer mobo). Both times I had to call the 800 number, and a computer voice walked me through putting in the new numbers. No complaints about doing this twice in one month!