All the parts will work, but you will have to re-install windows.

thats what i was afraid of...thanks for the response though.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko All the parts will work, but you will have to re-install windows.

Beaten to the punch.

if you want to see some fun windows errors, try booting without the reinstall!

quote:

Originally posted by chw if you want to see some fun windows errors, try booting without the reinstall!

Haha yes. It'll shit itself 10 ways from Sunday.

quote:

Originally posted by djbruuen i'm in a jam right now and am hoping to get this problem sorted fast. my motherboard died, and i need to replace it, but everything else is still intact. If i replace the mobo using the same company (gigabyte in my case) with a different model (because mine isn't made anymore) that support the same chipset etcetc. are the drivers usually still the same, allowing everything to go back to normal straight away once re-assembled? I tried emailing gigabyte about this, but their responce could take awhile. thanks

I've changed a MOBO before under the same conditions your under and windows loaded the changed drivers for the MOBO and it all worked. Go for it... you have nothing to lose. No matter what happens, all your data will still be in tact.

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It can be done. You don't necessarily have to reinstall. Actually, people think that there are all sorts of crazy motherboard-related drivers that have to load before Windows can start at all, but most of the time, it's actually just the IDE/SATA/RAID channel drivers that are the problem. If Windows doesn't have the right drivers for that, it will throw the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE BSOD at you and you'll be generally hosed.

Vista's actually great about this. If you know you're going to be changing the array, and you know what you're going to be changing it to, you can just flick on a registry setting and tell it to load that driver, and you'll be fine.

However, if your motherboard is more than about 6 months old, you're going to have a hell of a time finding one with the exact same drive controller. For example, my mobo is an ICH8R (Intel) and it's rare to even find an ICH9[R] now, it's usually 10 or 11. Vista seems to handle these "upgrades" fairly gracefully, as long as it has a native driver and you don't have to use the manufacturer's. XP will bomb, though, guaranteed, unless you're able to set up all the drivers and registry settings before you switch, which you obviously won't be able to do if the whole box is dead, and even if it's not dead, it's nigh on impossible to figure out exactly which settings in which keys you have to flip.

If you're running XP, your best bet is probably to search eBay or craigslist for a second-hand mobo that's the exact same model as the one you have. You might have to reactivate, but you wouldn't have to reinstall.

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I've replaced a few motherboards before and never had to re-install windows. It did look for the drivers upon bootup and took a few minutes to install. I did have to get updated drivers from the net that were newer than what windows had built-in.

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If the new motherboard has the same exact chipset as the old one you will most likely be able to boot and just reinstall any other driver if needed.

You may have to re-verify the license on Windows but you shoudln't have to re-install.

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quote:

Originally posted by rabbitjoker You may have to re-verify the license on Windows but you shoudln't have to re-install.

depends if the OS is legit.....

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