Mobo change repair install

Legionaire68 · 29 Jun 2006 at 12:20

Hi, thinking of get a new mobo, I've got an OEM XP Home that I've already swapped mobos with and done a re-install no problems but I think it would be pushing it to ring Microsoft for another go so I was going to get a new OEM.

But I don't want to do a clean install as I only did one in Jan, can I do a repair install with the new license and keep everything on my HD if its from a different license. Please feel free to call me a doofus for not knowing but wanted to check before I did it

split · 29 Jun 2006 at 14:01

There isn't a right answer here.

If you change your motherboard that has onboard NICs etc etc it works on a points system meaning you might have to re-activate windows anyway.

What hardware gets checked?
The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:

Display Adapter
SCSI Adapter
IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
Processor Type
Processor Serial Number
Hard Drive Device
Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM

Explained here.

Burnsy2023 · 29 Jun 2006 at 16:30

It is highly likely that you would need to reinstall especially if you have an onboard NIC.

As its an OEM copy of Windows, to be legal, you will need to buy a new license.

However, it wouldn't surprise me if MS would allow you to reactivate, even though the license doesn't allow it an you would be using unlicensed software.

Burnsy

split · 29 Jun 2006 at 17:56

It is highly likely that you would need to reinstall especially if you have an onboard NIC.

Did you mean re-activate?

The problem here is we don't know how many hardware changes he has made already that all add up to the re-activation coming into play.

If your doing a repair install just so as you don't have to re-activate, you may be OK, but it depends on what you've already changed.

Good guide here BTW, but still back up your critical data.

Burnsy2023 · 29 Jun 2006 at 19:37

split said:
Did you mean re-activate?

The problem here is we don't know how many hardware changes he has made already that all add up to the re-activation coming into play.

If your doing a repair install just so as you don't have to re-activate, you may be OK, but it depends on what you've already changed.

Good guide here BTW, but still back up your critical data.

Yes I did mean reactivate, but you also need to reinstall, sometime XP will install the drivers, somethimes it'll just Blue Screen.

Burnsy