B. INGGRIS
1.MOTHER BOARD PROBLEM
How can I replace the motherboard in my PC without having to reinstall Windows XP?
Problem
My computer running Windows XP Home Edition is using an elderly AMD Athlon 1GHz Thunderbird processor, so I am looking to change the
motherboard,
processor, and
RAM. How will Windows XP react to the new hardware? Will I have to re-register Windows XP? Should I remove all of the old motherboard drivers in the
Device Manager just before I make the switch, or in Safe Mode just afterwards?
Answer
Because of
Product Activation, replacing the hardware components you mention is more problematic in Windows XP than in Windows 95/98/Me, which don't use it. For that reason, no method is 100% successful, but if you understand and can implement the following information you stand a good chance of upgrading your computer successfully without having to reinstall Windows XP.
Your new
motherboard will almost certainly have different chipset(s) than the one it is replacing, especially if it has an onboard video chip that provides the video instead of a dedicated graphics card, and which has its own chipset. A Windows XP installation that uses the chipset drivers for the old motherboard is likely to lock up when you run it on the new motherboard.
Note that
RAM and the
processor do not have device drivers, so you don't have to do anything to Windows XP if you upgrade those components. Windows will automatically detect and install those devices.
The most successful process involves having to perform a repair installation of Windows XP, which requires a full Windows XP CD, or at least a recovery partition that includes a repair option. If your computer only came with a Recovery CD that restores the computer's software to the condition it was in when it left the factory, it would restore the device drivers for the old motherboard. If you only have a Recovery CD, unless you are willing to try creating a bootable Windows XP CD from it, you'll have to buy a full copy of Windows XP, not the Upgrade version, because the Recovery CD doesn't qualify as an upgradable version of Windows. You should be able to buy an inexpensive OEM copy (usually at half the price or less of the retail version) that must be purchased with a component, such as a motherboard, hard drive, etc.
It is possible to create a boot Windows XP CD from a Recovery CD.
How to use BartPE to create a bootable Windows XP CD if your PC doesn't have one on this site provides the necessary information.
Note that there could be problems with this method because of
Product Activation. If your computer came with a Recovery CD (restore disc), it has an OEM version of Windows XP. An OEM version is provided at reduced cost to the manufacturer because it has a restriction placed on its use. It can only be used on the computer that it was provided for. Microsoft takes the view that it is the motherboard that determines if the same computer is being used. Everything else can be changed as long as the motherboard stays the same model. If you change the model of motherboard, Microsoft says that it isn't the same computer and the user has to buy a new copy of Windows. You would have to telephone Microsoft to obtain the key to reactivate Windows XP and say that you had to replace the motherboard because the previous one died. If you say that you upgraded a functioning motherboard, you won't be allowed to reactivate Windows XP, because an upgrade doesn't qualify as being the same computer under the terms of an OEM licence. That is not the case with a retail copy of Windows. You can change the motherboard. The user will probably just have to phone Microsoft to explain that the motherboard has been upgraded, give a promise that the copy is only being used on one computer, and obtain the activation code.
Alternatively, if you are careful and know what you're doing, it is possible to go into the
Device Manager and remove all of the drivers for the old motherboard chipset and the drivers for the video card if the motherboard has an onboard graphics chip. The key devices, such as the IDE Controllers and video have to be replaced with the generic (standard) Windows drives. You can do that by right-clicking on the device making use of the of the Update Driver... option.
You would then shut Windows down, turn the PC off at the mains, but leave it plugged in, and perform the upgrade. When you restart the upgraded system, Windows XP should detect new hardware and install the correct drivers, or ask for them on a CD. However, note that this can be a messy business. A repair installation is the best option if you have a Windows XP installation CD.
If you value the software and data files on the computer, you should make a restorable backup of the system before changing the hardware.
Click here! to go to the information on creating backups on this site.
You won't have an
SATA hard drive, because your elderly system must have an
IDE hard drive. But if anyone is replacing a motherboard and is installing an SATA hard drive, visit the motherboard manufacturer's site and download the current SATA drivers for the new motherboard because you will need to install them when Windows asks for them. Follow the manufacturer instructions and place the drivers on a floppy disk so that they will be available after the new hardware has been installed.
Start the process by inserting the Windows XP CD in the CD/DVD drive, close the window that opens if the auto-start function is enabled and shut down the computer in the normal way. This leaves the Windows XP installation CD in the drive so it will be ready for use after the upgrade.
Note that you should not make changes to the system, such as rearranging the hard drives (if the system has more than one hard drive), or changing the IDE channel that the CD drive is using. You should leave as much of the rest of the system as it is until you complete the upgrade procedure successfully.
You should know how to remove the old components and install the new ones. Visit the
Build Your Own PC pages on this site for the relevant information and make sure that you read and understand the information in the user manual that is provided with a motherboard. New motherboards are very easy to install. They auto-configure everything. In previous times, it was necessary to set the BIOS and the jumpers/dip switches on the motherboard in order to get the hardware to work. If you are upgrading an old system with components that are not new, you should read the motherboard's manual to find out what is required. It is possible to install most new motherboard without configuring anything. The BIOS and Windows do everything automatically. The only action you might have to take is insert a driver CD.
You should enter the
BIOS to make sure the system date and time are set correctly because Windows takes its date and time from the BIOS. In order to boot from a CD, the BIOS has to be set to boot first from the CD/DVD drive. The motherboard manual will have a section on the BIOS that explains the settings. The boot order will be in a section of the BIOS called something like BIOS Features Setup. There will be settings that you choose to enable the hard drive, CD/DVD drive, floppy drive, etc. as the first boot device.
After you have replaced the motherboard, you should start up the system and press the key(s) that open the BIOS to make the change in the boot order. Do not allow Windows to boot the system if you can't open the BIOS, press the reset button on the case or the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination to restart the system. Saving the new BIOS setting, exits the BIOS and reboots the system. You left the Windows XP CD in the CD drive when you shut down to perform the upgrade, so the system will boot from it. As the boot sequence continues, watch the screen for a message to appear that the system is looking for a bootable CD ROM. Watch the screen for the message that the CD has been auto-detected, followed by the Press any key to boot CD message. Press the spacebar or any other key within the five seconds in which the message is displayed.
Windows begins to inspect the hardware configuration. After the inspection is complete, Windows starts to load files from the CD as it begins the installation. A screen appears that shows these three options.
1. - To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.
2. - To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R.
3. - To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
The second option asks if you want to repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console. This may be the required course of action in other circumstances, but in this case you only want to repair Windows XP without using Recovery Console. To do that, select the first option to set up Windows by pressing the Enter key.
More files will load from the CD. A list of all the current installations of Windows XP will be displayed in the lower portion of the window. Use the arrow keys to select among them if you have more than one installation. After the selection has been made, press the R key to begin the repair process.
NOTE: Do not choose the option to press the ESC key! Note well that pressing the ESC key will result in you losing all of your data files and settings and is akin to doing a reformat and clean install.
Note that when you perform a repair of a current installation you are asked to enter the Product Key that came with the Windows XP CD. Windows XP is installing a fresh copy of itself over the existing copy. While the data and settings are not destroyed, any Service Packs will have to be reinstalled after the repair process has completed. The Setup continues and eventually the computer reboots. Watch the onscreen prompts, but do not press a key when the Press any key to boot CD message appears. The installation continues, prompting you from time to time to supply additional setup information. After you have provided the appropriate responses, another reboot occurs, this time bringing you into Windows XP.
After the repair installation is completed, you should be able to start up Windows XP as usual.
Note that you might have to reactivate Windows XP after such a repair installation. Microsoft has made the process fast and virtually painless, so, if you do have to reactivate, just make the free call to Microsoft to explain your circumstances and obtain the new code, and everything should be in order.
Read the following article in the MS Knowledge Base if you require more information.
How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125You can also enter a search term such as replace + motherboard + xp (as is) in Google search box at the top of this page with it Web radio button enabled.
Replacing a motherboard in Windows Vista
At the time of writing, the situation with regard to replacing a motherboard in Windows Vista was unclear, because I don't know if Startup Repair in Vista can be used in the same way as a repair install in Windows XP. Also note that there is no longer a Recovery Console in Windows Vista. You only have System Restore and Startup Repair.
2. Have I destroyed my motherboard, keyboard and wireless network adapter by using two USB ports at the same time that are linked together on the motherboard?
Problem
I repaired my
desktop PC by replacing the
motherboard with an
ASRock P4VM890 Socket 478 motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 / Celeron D (Prescott, Northwood, Willamette)
processors. It was working properly until I plugged a
flash drive into one of the
USB ports on the motherboard at the rear of the case. According to the motherboard manual, the port is shared with a USB port on the front panel of the case, which had a USB
D-Link wireless network adapter plugged into it. The flash drive packed in along with the keyboard. I replaced the keyboard, which worked for a while but has now also packed in. The keyboard has a PS/2 five-pin DIN plug that is used with a USB adapter cable. The motherboard manual says that the two sockets will not function together, but it does not say that using both of them at the same time will cause damage.
Answer
The ASRock P4VM890 motherboard provides six USB ports from its ports panel that appears at the back of the case when the motherboard is installed in it. The motherboard also has two sets of headers on the motherboard itself for connecting USB ports in the front panel of the case with cables that are provided by the case.
This page on ASRock's site provides the manual as a download -
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P4VM890. If it doesn't work, you can try entering asrock p4vm890 in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to find the current link.
The USB header at the bottom, near the
SATA hard-disk-drive connectors and the third PCI slot, provides an additional two USB ports. The other header, located behind the USB ports on the motherboard's ports panel, shares a connection with two of them. You can't use both the front and back USB connections, which are connected to the same port, simultaneously. However, it doesn't seem likely that plugging in two devices would produce a short circuit, such as you describe, if the cable between the header and the front ports had been wired correctly.
Perhaps the front-panel connector cable from your case does not match the pin-out of these USB headers. There are several variations in the pin-out of USB headers. Most motherboard manufacturers, including ASRock, place the two 5V power pins next to each other, usually at the far end from the 'missing' pin of the nine-pin connector. However, some motherboard manufacturers reverse the order of pins on the second USB port, so one is arranged Power, Data-, Data+, Ground, and the other is Ground, Data+, Data-, Power.
Therefore, when you want to connect USB cables to a new motherboard, you should check the motherboard manual carefully. A
multimeter set to DC volts can be used to check which pins are running at 5V. The wires in the cable are usually red when they are used to deliver power.
Read this illustrated article - How to Install Front USB by Connecting Front USB Ports to a Motherboard? -
http://www.directron.com/installusb.htmlNote that PS/2-to-USB adapters of the kind that you used to connect your PS/2 keyboard to a PS/2 keyboard USB port on the motherboard will only work if the PS/2 keyboard (or mouse) has been designed to work with both a USB and a PS/2 connection. You had that setup working, so they must be compatible.
It is more probably that the adapter has burnt out or been shorted by too much current. You could also find shorted leads in the front-panel USB cables. If you can, before using it again, use a multimeter set to resistance to check each possible combination of pins for a short circuit. It should be safe to use the keyboard in the motherboard's PS/2 keyboard port to find out if it is still working.
Unfortunately, the fourth and fifth USB ports could be permanently damaged. They are on the shared header and the right-most connectors, furthest away from the PS/2 keyboard port, on the back of the motherboard. A damaged USB port can damage other equipment permanently, so you should avoid using them.
