Motherboard/xp question

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 18:59

Put this on motherboard forum but no answers so thought would be better on here!

Hi guys, hope you can help . .

I have a system with a problem - my motherboard - It should go to 2gb max - but only one of the dimm slots is working (tried ram in other slot and friends machine - works fine (it's out of warrranty now anyway so not too fussed).

Thing is, if I buy a new motherboard (rest of system is fine for my needs - Athlon x2 5000, 2gb crucial ram( well, it would be 2gb if it worked properly) 160gb hd, 120 gb external, 8800GT card) do I have to reinstall XP pro again? I use the machine for my design business as well as play so I have a lot of stuff on there that will take forever to get sorted if I have to reinstall XP all over again!

What is the best/easiest option?

Cheers,

Pete

4T5 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:02

How about buying 1 x 2gig stick & keeping the old mobo

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:03

Mobo only goes up to 2gb max - bit rubbish

4T5 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:07

I thought you only wanted 2gig.
Never mind, Next idea

Create an Image of your HD then just get new mobo flash it over, Jobs a good'en

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:25

Err.. bit thick when it comes to hardware and stuff - did not get all you said?
As for the 2gb - I tried a 2gb stick in it but it only recognises 1gb per slot :-(

Ta

Pete

addylad · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:34

Yeh it probs has a max capacity of 1gig per slot; try one of those Web sites that checks your specks maybe. I think Crucial does it.

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:38

i did crucial told me 'too bad fool you picked a duff board'!

:-)

4T5 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:40

Excuse my copy & paste mate but i have company.
Google making a hard drive image.

Here is a quick copy/paste
A disk image file contains the exact, byte-by-byte copy of a hard drive, partition or logical disk and can be created with various compression levels on the fly without stopping Windows OS and therefore without interrupting your business. These drive image files can then be stored in a variety of places, including various removable media such as CD-R(W)/DVD, Iomega Zip or Jazz disks, etc.

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 19:49

Thanks for this appreciate it !!

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 20:29

Cant find much in the way of hard drive imaging software - Ghost or Acronis - any ideas which is better? Do I need to reinstall my serial number for XP pro once I get new motherboard?

Cheers,

Pete

sir-les-mp · 30 Mar 2008 at 20:47

It will all depend on the chipset of the new mobo
if you get a new one with the exact same chipset all you should have to do is transfer hardware over.

addylad · 30 Mar 2008 at 20:57

acronis trueimage 11 (home)

paganpete101 · 30 Mar 2008 at 20:58

cheers - will start pricing it up!

Ta,

Pete