Booting Winxp Problems with New Motherboard

[Seeker47]

{Getting away with it, so far ?}

MS has a point system which triggers authentication, in my experience a different mobo ALWAYS triggers activation. Simply a new videocard can trigger it, re-installing the same videocard can trigger it, a few weeks ago I replaced a Power Supply and triggered activation.

. . .

Re-install from scratch IS the alternative. When switching to a new PC, this is ALWAYS the preferred method. Only in extreme cases do you do anything else. The re-install procedure won't be much more hassle than the op is going thru, and absolutely positively guaranteed to work.

When changing hard drive there is no need for activation and no points accumulated. There is no software program of any kind which will assist with this.

It's a lousy alternative. Sorry, but I have to reject this option and this reasoning. Initial install is a HUGE PAIN, and I detest the notion of a reinstall from scratch. It's also not very practical here, because there is such a major investment in installed apps (some of which can NOT be reinstalled, as they were special limited offer freebies), and heavy personal customization of everything, such that you are literally talking about weeks of work.

Let me tell you what is going on at the moment. I blew up a power supply a couple weeks ago. It was a proprietary part, no longer widely available, and took some doing to replace. But I did just now get a new one, and will very shortly find out if the one that burned up took the mobo, video, or anything else along with it. In the meantime, I had a near-duplicate, "understudy" of this Shuttle, that was bought (used) around the same time, originally with the idea of being able to cannibalize it for parts. That turns out to have been a good idea, since the mobo for these is no longer available, and is also proprietary. I say near-duplicate because the CPU is different, the RAM is different, the video card and burner are different (the latter IDE, instead of SATA), and the mobo could well be a different rev. So, how close is close enough ?

We are actually looking at two separate issues: 1) When you transplant or make hardware changes, does the computer still boot and run with good stability ?, & 2) Will this trigger the need for re-activation ?

Anyway, rather than transferring parts over to the damaged computer #1, for the short term I have taken the original (smaller) HDD from computer #1 and placed it into computer #2. This was the basis for the production boot drive that was in computer #1, but which had been migrated -- with Acronis TI -- over to a twice-the-size HDD quite some time ago. It had drivers for the Leadtek 9600GT on it, rather than for the ATI Sapphire that is present in computer #2. I have not changed any drivers, so far. It boots XP without any apparent problem, and has been running in a stable manner for a few days now. No sign of activation issues. Is this a fluke ? Whatever it is, I intend for it to be a temporary situation, as this fill-in setup is missing tons of apps, and a lot of other things. I will check out the former boot drive of the computer that went down, this weekend. Hopefully it is still o.k.

Another poster speculated that having the NIC -- or other system components -- disabled for a couple of reboots might also cost you MS hardware change "points". Partly due to confusion over what the BIOS settings were in my computer #2 (which was not previously in use), I have turned that and other things Off and On over successive reboots. No activation problem from that, either. I can't say what might happen with other computers, only that it has not happened with THIS computer.

Longer term, my goal is to be able to do what I've heard a good I.T. dept. is able to do: deploy a fully-formed Win install -- replete with apps and user customizations -- for a relatively quick and easy disaster recovery, even to moderately different hardware. Without activation hassles. However this might be done, whether by images, or by some very fancy slipstreaming, or via programs like Acronis or Paragon that you (and others) say cannot accomplish this -- I don't care. Set the process in motion, walk away, return a bit later and it's all done, not missing any security patches, etc. There will be failures along the way, and a learning curve. But I'm gonna get there, or at least give it one helluva good shot. And come back to say how things turned out.

[Nelson37]

Question #1 is a crap shoot. It will either boot or not. Stability is another issue. No PC tech who knows what they are doing would do it that way, outside of an emergency. The lack of stability is the reason why.

The IT department procedure you refer to is for IDENTICAL, or nearly so, hardware. I have Never, Ever heard of this being done across different hardware platforms, the reason is that it just will not work. You will get a blue screen and have to do a repair install. How different does it have to be? MS knows the answer, and they ain't talking. Some info indicates that it is specifically tied to the IDE controller on the mobo. Also, an IT department will often have an XP disk with corporate volume licensing, which do not require activation. These are not available to the general public through standard retail channels. These types of folks buy their Pc's by the dozen, or even hundred. That's why it works, they are all the same, or very nearly so. When they get new PC models, they make new image disks.

The driver issue still remains even with no activation issues.

I mentioned earlier about re-inserting the same video card and installing a PSU triggering activation. These are not stories from somebody's cousin's uncle. These are actual events I personally encountered. In the case of the PSU, it triggered recognition of new USB hardware, which may have been the issue. In the case of the video card, same card in the box for years, simply firmly seated it after coming loose, activation required.

Removing ALL devices and re-installing ALL drivers is feasible. The Repair install is usually the next needed step, keeps all software running.

Other questions which need examined are the issue of OEM versus full retail install disk. OEM only activates on original hardware, change the hardware, lose the license. Full retail is a license forever, though just one install at a time.

What you want is an unattainable pipe dream. If a re-install takes weeks, you're not gonna get any progress in your lifetime. Been there, done that. Good luck to you.