NationStates Jolt Archive

I know I probably should post this is a tech help forum, but I felt it couldn't hurt to ask here, as you all seem capable of at least turning on your computers.

I'm changing out my mother board, along with my graphics card and processor. The brands on all 3, however, are staying the same (MSI, NVIDEA, and AMD Athlon, in that order). I've heard from multiple friends of mine, as well as other online sources, that I should reformat, while others say I wouldn't have to. Is there any way I can perform these changes without having to reformat and back up craploads of data I'd rather not have to waste 20+ cd-r's on? As long as I update all of my drivers and my bios, would it really be necessary?

It's possible that you will have problems but it is also possible that you will not. There are too many specifics to look into before a definitive answer can be made.

I know I probably should post this is a tech help forum, but I felt it couldn't hurt to ask here, as you all seem capable of at least turning on your computers.

I'm changing out my mother board, along with my graphics card and processor. The brands on all 3, however, are staying the same (MSI, NVIDEA, and AMD Athlon, in that order). I've heard from multiple friends of mine, as well as other online sources, that I should reformat, while others say I wouldn't have to. Is there any way I can perform these changes without having to reformat and back up craploads of data I'd rather not have to waste 20+ cd-r's on? As long as I update all of my drivers and my bios, would it really be necessary?Shouldn't have to, but to be safe, back up your data.

Remember, Jesus Saves and Saves daily.

Shouldn't have to, but to be safe, back up your data.

Remember, Jesus Saves and Saves daily.

I'm also adding a new hd to my system. Would it be practical to back all my files up onto that, and then reformat?

I know I probably should post this is a tech help forum, but I felt it couldn't hurt to ask here, as you all seem capable of at least turning on your computers.

I'm changing out my mother board, along with my graphics card and processor. The brands on all 3, however, are staying the same (MSI, NVIDEA, and AMD Athlon, in that order). I've heard from multiple friends of mine, as well as other online sources, that I should reformat, while others say I wouldn't have to. Is there any way I can perform these changes without having to reformat and back up craploads of data I'd rather not have to waste 20+ cd-r's on? As long as I update all of my drivers and my bios, would it really be necessary?
I would absolutly recomend a reformat
That being said you POSSIBLY will be able to do it with win XP without the format but you have a good chance of it not working and you probably wont see the performance out of it that you would like to

I'm also adding a new hd to my system. Would it be practical to back all my files up onto that, and then reformat?
Yes it should be

I'm also adding a new hd to my system. Would it be practical to back all my files up onto that, and then reformat?
you have a new HD? then there is no problem. format the new drive, Install the programs from scratch or use the recovery disk. then copy the data from one drive to another. Then turn the old drive into your backup storage or as your Data Disk. this way, the new drive (hopefully bigger also) can then become your system drive while your old drive becomes your data drive as well as backup.

if you need to use a port for the drive to drive transfere... just remove the CD ROM and Jumper the old drive to either slave or cable select.

Back up everything. How much is your time worth? An $80 dual layer 8.5 GB dvd writer might be in your future. Lightscribe writers are a little extra. But backing up to HD is always a viable option.

That said. Go into windows and change all your device drivers over to generic drivers, and make sure it still works under that configuration. Then after that's all done, swap motherboards. Then you can install the new drivers.

If you're going to use the same HD with an install of Xp with a new motherbord then you may run into problems - Xp maintains a 'HardWare Profile' so as to allow it to be optimised for your hardware or prevent people from passing round HD-disk images containing Xp installations (you decide the reason :p ). I ran into this problem, had to reinstall XP - basically format my drive. SO yeah you'd be best to back up stuff.

If you're going to use the same HD with an install of Xp with a new motherbord then you may run into problems - Xp maintains a 'HardWare Profile' so as to allow it to be optimised for your hardware or prevent people from passing round HD-disk images containing Xp installations (you decide the reason :p ). I ran into this problem, had to reinstall XP - basically format my drive. SO yeah you'd be best to back up stuff.
Depends on the amount of hardware ... it likes to bog at the 3 device limit usualy