Installing Lots Of Hardware?

Mechanicus

Mechanicus

Mechanicus

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Joined
30 Oct 2007
Posts
161
Hello. For those who have been watching my thread titled "Mobo/RAM Advice Please", hello again :)

I just bought a handful of parts to upgrade my system. This is my current spec:

Windows XP Home/Vista Premium Dual Boot
BFG 8800GTS (640mb) OC2 Version
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe SKT939 RD580 Crossfire ATX
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ socket 939 Dual Core 2.2ghz 512kb and 512kb Cache
2GB DDR PC2700 333MHz CL2.5 RAM (UNMATCHED PAIR!)
Seagate ST3160812A 160GB 7200RPM IDE (Storage)
Maxtor 7200RPM IDE 120GB (XP Boot)
Hitachi 400GB 7200RPM SATAII (Vista Boot)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

This is what I just bought:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro
ASUS P5K AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 eSATA Motherboard
LG GSA-H66NBAL 18X SATA DVD±RW/DL/RAM
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2

I mostly use Vista now, in fact XP is only there as a backup incase Vista goes odd on me :)

The concern I have is that with all these new parts going in, and with them all reliant on one another, are there any steps I can take before installing them? I mean, the only drivers I have are for the graphics card, which is staying in. Everything else is plug-and-play.
 
Hi again. :)
Once all put together you'll need to install mobo drivers and actualy you'd better do fresh install of both xp and vista.
Hopefully you know this already but if your windows are OEM then you'll have to buy new copies unless you get nice person sitting on the other side of the phone. :D
 
Ugh. Do I really need to reinstall everything?

The thought of having to do that almost makes me want to cancel the order. I really don't want to have to reinstall everything on this computer.
 
New motherboard = new install of windows unfortunately. It can work without reinstalling but it's usually very unstable.

Best to start anew.
 
Think of it this way, you got yourself a good upgrade which should keep you going for over a year with maybe a new gpu somewhere down the road so spending 2 days reinstalling its worth it.
 
Does that mean everything has to be moved/deleted from the hard drive, or will it just install over the top?
Do I have to wipe Windows first, or just reinstall it?
 
Hello Mechanicus, which license of Windows XP and Windows Vista did you purchase?

Providing you have the appropriate license, it is possible to change a motherboard without having to reinstall. There are probably guides out there to guide you through the process of keeping your Operating System installation when changing your motherboard in your system without having to reinstall. However, I would highly recommend doing a fresh install to avoid potential problems in the future. You could run into quite a few problems further down the line if you don't.

Back-up all of the important data that you have and do a fresh installation of Windows is certainly, without a doubt, the best way to do things when changing a motherboard. :)
 
Oh I see. No it's retail, so I should be fine for a fresh install.

The only problem is that I have about 250gb of programs and files on my Vista hard drive, meaning I have to find somewhere to put them all before I format the drive for a fresh install.

So, let's have a quick rundown of what I have to do:
1) Move all files/programs I want to keep off of the drive
2) Format the hard drive
3) Install the new parts
4) Install Vista
5) Install drivers etc.
6) Move programs and files back over to the hard drive.

Does that sound right?
 
1. You need to backup your data. Programs like office/photoshop/games will have to be installed again so you back up only your files/save games/profiles.
2. Install the new parts
3. Install Vista during this you'll have option to format your disk.
4. Install drivers etc
5. Reinstall all your programs and move your files back.
 
Okay, thanks for the help. I think I'm going to cancel my order and wait a while. There are no games that I play at the moment that us a lot of power, and I would rather wait until it gets bad (so I cannot play the latest games) and then upgrade - by which point the prices should have dropped.
 
Sorry to revive this thread, but I have bitten the bullet and gotten some parts, and I have a question about Hard Drives again.

I have 3 hard drives - 2 for storage, and 1 with Vista on it (and programs). One of the storage ones has XP on it but never mind about that because I do not plan to use it anymore.

My question is - will I have to wipe these hard drives too? Like I say, all they are used for is storage - one has all my digicam and camera photos on it, plus scan of my SLR camera pictures. The other has mostly torrent files (legal - don't worry :) ). Neither have any program installed on them.
 
No need to wipe them. All you 'need' to do is install Windows. However as all your programs depend on the registry settings in windows to run, you should reinstall them too.

Data is data, it completely independant of OS. Just plan ahead which drives you are going to format, so you move your data beforehand as necessary :)
 
The one with xp you'd better reformat if you dont want to use xp anymore.
The other one just needs defragmenting once a month or so as you move stuff around it'll get messy and hdd needs to work harder to locate all parts of the files. Run defrag and it'll tell you if needs doing or not.
 
melbourne720 said:
No need to wipe them. All you 'need' to do is install Windows. However as all your programs depend on the registry settings in windows to run, you should reinstall them too.

Data is data, it completely independant of OS. Just plan ahead which drives you are going to format, so you move your data beforehand as necessary :)
Click to expand...

So do I need to remove Vista completely, or can i reinstall over the top? Will that work, or will it need a clean install? Will it delete any of my other files, which I've heard XP could do.
 
Yes, everything is exactly the same. I only got the RAM from OcUK (sorry!), because I found a bundle pack with the motherboard, CPU and fan for about £20 off the price, which was a little cheaper than OcUK before the discount.

So your advice would be to leave the 2 storage hard drive alone?
Would it be worth unplugging them until all the new hardware is installed and updated, then stick them in?
 
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