Can I swap out a mobo without doing a clean install of XP Pro?

[Plester]

I read somewhere that installing standard IDE drivers before swapping (i will be going from an 845PE to 865 chipset) boards, then booting the first time with the new board in safe mode allows for a successful transition without a OS reinstall.

Any one confirm or deny?

 

[spyordie007]

although unsupported it is certainly possible, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314082

-Erik

 

[Sianath]

It's by no means 100%. If the mobo is completely different, your mass storage controller drivers will be the least of your concerns... the HAL itself may need to be changed.

Easiest way is to just swap 'em out, and power it up. If it works, great! If not, you can just boot from CD and do an in-place upgrade of the OS to redetect HAL type, etc.

 

[zigCorsair]

I've done it succesfully with 4-5 different motherboards.

It's been working in Fedora now too [irrelevant]!

 

[NEVERwinter]

this works for me (no guarantee though ):
- uninstall your currnet mobo driver
- when it asks for reboot, turn off your computer instead.
- swap your mobo
- boot into safe mode, it will install standard drivers
- reboot to normal mode, install the new mobo drivers

 

[Budman]

Helping Windows Survive a Motherboard Upgrade

 

[Smilin]

You can run a sysprep on the box. As long as you don't jump hals it should work pretty well.

 

[Peter007]

I've haven't try it, but You probably READ IT like I did on

This Months issue of Maximum PC, under the Tweak XP section