Do I Need to "Format" to replace/change MOBO?

Antx777

Antx777

Antx777

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As per title.

I was thinking of upgrading my MOBO (from K8N Neo 4) to a SLI/Xfire board. However, I read somewere in a mag that you have to format your Hard drive to do this - is this the case? - or was it the operating system, can't remember. My HD/software is so finely tuned now - i wouldn't want to start all again (took me 7-10 days last time to get everything back as normal :( :eek: :mad:


EDIT: I have the full Windows XP installation Disk etc
 
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Boot with windows CD then Format ( quick ) , reinstall os

Thats the way ive had to do it every time , best to go clean :(
 
If you are changing to a completely different chipset,which in your case you probably would be,then a format and fresh install of windows is the best way mate.

A total pain I know but unfortunately necessary,if you change mobo's and build systems reguarly,then you get used to it,a reformat and reinstall of previous files/programs etc shouldn't take more than a few hours.

Make sure to backup all of your internet bookmarks,this I find is the trickiest thing to re-establish if you forget to back 'em up. :)
 
You don't need to format with a new motherboard. I didn't for a while when I got my new motherboard and it was fine...

A clean uninstall of all old motherboard drivers and a clean install of all new motherboard drivers will do the trick.

But it's always best to format.
 
Thanks people

I have just aquired a 250 Gig HD (External Seagate) from Overclcokers, my intenal is 250 gig too. I was wondering if I could back up all my data onto this drive.. not just copy it but like "clone" it. Is it possible to install Windows XP on an external HD? (it's connected via usb)


Anthony
 
Running an OS off an external hard drive is not advisable,I'm certainly no expert in this area,but I'm pretty sure an OS running over USB 2 or firewire would be much,much slower than a sata or IDE drive OS system.
 
I used to be a format fanatic but the last three motherboard changes (all different chipsets and Intel/AMD) have been done without a format and without a hitch! In fact my latest build of pC is the most stable and problem free I have ever had!

Use driver cleaner to remove everytrhing you can -eg if you have an Nforce board and are going to a 965 chipset then remove anything Nvidia including GFX drivers (you can easily re install them).
Remove all other components like on board sound and IDE drivers from device manager.

When you boot with the new drive let windows sort itself out and then install new mobo drivers and all other features......job done.



Always back up just in case and then you've lost nothing anyway! ;)
 
going from a gigabyte 8GNXP-DUO ( Chipset 915p ) to a Gigabyte S3 ( Chipset 965p ) required no format in Vista, as Vista auto recognises and re-install required drivers when you boot up / login and will even show you a nice log of what got installed and whether you need to reboot to use it lol.

And its not just for changed hardware either, as in doing so, it also re-installed the default vista-included nvidia driver for my 6800GT even though the card wasnt moved at all lol
 
If you take these steps you should be fine:

1. remove all Mobo related drivers before you switch off for the last time.
swap MoBo's, try switching on.

If this doesn't work its because either:
- the new hardware hash has changed and windows wants you to reactivate(sometimes you don't get the option of doing this and the screen just goes black).
- there are drivers still being loaded from C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers that are causing a conflict.

I have only found a couple of times that step 1 has been sufficient and I have done a lot of hardware changes in the past.

2. Delete all files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers in safemode or using another PC and do a system repair(you may need to unplug any secondary HD's that you have before system repair option becomes available.

This is the surefire way of getting best system stability and from my experience is as good as a clean install(as long as you existing installation isn't full of crud) but you get to keep your windows settings. I don't even bother with step 1 anymore. The system repair will reinstate default drivers and all you need to do is put sp2 on(if your windows version is older) and load drivers that the default windows installation doesn't have.

step 2. on its own takes about half an hour.

Russty
 
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I went from an Abit IC7-MAX3 (Pentium 4, Socket 478) to an Asus P5W64-WS (Core 2 Duo, Socket 775) and amazingly the Intel RAID controller detected my RAID0 array on the new board! I was expecting it to be gone as soon as I used the drives on another board, but I guess because the RAID controller manufacturer was the same (Intel ICH5R on MAX3 to Intel ICH7R on P5W64) it was ok with it.

Didn't matter though because it would bluescreen whilst trying to load Windows. I guess the hardware differences were too great for it to deal with.

I'd say format and reinstall if you're moving to a new motherboard myself. It's the only way to be sure.
 
i guess I would be in the ultra lazy category. Everytime i need to format either due to a new build or just too much crap, i just buy a new HD thats bigger and use that as C: and put the others as spare HD's lol. I guess gives the added advantage that you can still boot into the spare HD's if your C: runs into trouble.

:D
 
If you do decide to format, there is an option on the windows XP CD called files and settings transfer wizard. This will create several 2Gb files (depending on size of data set to be transfered. This works well, it will save desktop settings, drive mappings, IE bookmarks/favourites, Emails (If outlook) to a file which can be imported to your new install. It also collects all data files from all local hard disks for transfer too. It does not transfer executables. There is an option screen which allows the selection of settings/files to be transfered.

I prefer a clean install with new kit but XP will often sort itself out if booted in a new environment. Creating an image with ghost or similar, if you plan on putting XP on a new disk also works. However, this is not adviseable when moving from an IDE based system to a SCSI based system and vice versa. There is a strong possiblilty that Windows will not detect the disk, lock up on boot or Bluescreen.
 
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Thanks a lot for that above advise :)

I will follow some procedurers there.

However, to save creating another topic, I have tried to install operating system on External but won't have it (after several tries), however, when I boot up, I get this screen (taken with my cam)

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Professional (C Drive)

Use the down arrow... (etc)

The bottum one of the 3 is C drive, and works fine - no prob, but I've got to press the arrow down each time to select it, as it defaults to first one - with hasn't actually got an operating sytem on it at all (as such) I've tried doing something with the Windows CD XP disk (delating partitions etc) but the above still seem to be there. could these two have gone on my C drive? Don't want to delte my C drive! - how ironic that would be :eek:

Anthony :(
 
Craig321 said:
You don't need to format with a new motherboard. I didn't for a while when I got my new motherboard and it was fine...

A clean uninstall of all old motherboard drivers and a clean install of all new motherboard drivers will do the trick.

But it's always best to format.
Click to expand...


A few months ago I switched from a Asus nforce4 mobo to an Asus Crossfire 3200 mobo, no other hardware was changed. All I did was uninstall the nforce drivers. Shutdown the system, swapped over the mobos, booted up XP and that was it. Simple.

YMMV.
 
Antx777 said:
{snip}The bottum one of the 3 is C drive, and works fine - no prob, but I've got to press the arrow down each time to select it, as it defaults to first one - with hasn't actually got an operating sytem on it at all (as such) I've tried doing something with the Windows CD XP disk (delating partitions etc) but the above still seem to be there. could these two have gone on my C drive? Don't want to delte my C drive! - how ironic that would be :eek:{snip}
Click to expand...
Need to edit the BOOT.INI file (see here & here) :)
 
Cheers HP7909, got that sorted, couldn't get something right on the links, but led me to do the following (after further enquiring):

"""Go to Start-Run and input msconfig and press enter. Click on Boot.ini tab and click the button marked "Check all boot paths" and you should be given the option to delete them"".

Only the ones listed "it appears there is no operating system on this drive" etc were deleted by me, while the last one "IT APPEARS THAT ALL BOOT.INI LINES FOR MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEM ARE OK" was left.

Thanks :)
 
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