New Motherboard - should I reinstall Windows XP

[a1ex2001]

I always buy a new hard disk with a major upgrade there so cheap! That way I always get a nice clean install and no risk of forgetting thos vital save game files etc!

 

[Monstermunch]

I never reinstalled windows moving from an Asus p4c800-e to a p4p800vm board, no problems here, well at least I hope not.

That probably because they're both made by the same company and by looking at the model no's from the same series as well. If you check Asus' website you'll probably find that they use the same driver!

 

[Monstermunch]

what about if you change the cpu? I did this and windows seems to be ok but in the event log it says there have been bsod (havent seen any).

CPU changes dont really matter (dual core may be a different story, don't know about those) because the mobo will set the chip to run at the speed it's designed to, not windows. Apart from dual core i'm not aware of any drivers required to make a cpu run!

It's the drivers that are the issue, the drivers you have installed in windows on the hdd are what controlls your mobo, without them it won't work properly, so having foreign drivers installed for another mobo is a bad idea!

If you want a fast and reliable machine I always follow these steps:

Build PC
Install windows
Install Mobo drivers
Instal gfx drivers
install everything else
DEFRAG

Using all the latest and most up to date drivers!

 

[richolmes72]

I managed a motherboard change, different make and chipset too, by making XP do a repair install.

It was fine, but there were lots of intermittent crashes and BSOD's in the month that followed, no more than 1 or 2 a week, but enough for me to pack it in and reinstall properly (also a good excuse for me to buy yet another HD )

I'd recommend a fresh install

 

[SinaiSound]

I'd recommend a fresh install, but using nLite and the RyanVM update pack to make sure you have the most up to date copy of windows.

http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html

http://www.nliteos.com/

 

[Dutch Guy]

I went from a nForce3 > nForce4 chipset, thought I would try it without reinstalling but could not boot into Windows at all meaning a repair but thought I would format and start with a fresh install.