Motherboard Upgrade Question

hi there,

i'm thinking about upgrading to a new motherboard, mainly cos my current one doesnt have any AGP slots and it would be good to have for grafix cards etc in the future.

my problem/question is this. after replacing the motherboard u are supposed to use a "proper" copy of Windows XP CD in order to repair the setting so XP recognises the new hardware (from what i have gathered on various sites anyway) so XP will boot from the harddrive correctly. trouble is, the copy of XP that was bundled with my PC when i bought it is one of those crappy recovery discs that takes it back to shop-floor settings and it only works on my computer (a Sony Vaio). If i was to change the motherboard, then from my understanding this copy of Vaio Specific XP will not work anymore?

am i right here or have i totally missed the point? the obvious solution would be to totally reformat install the new motherboard, buy a copy of XP from the shop and install that from scratch. but i dont want to spend the money on a new copy of XP, nor do i particularly want to reformat since ive fine tuned XP to "my taste", so to speak.

if anyone could enlighten me in any way here i would be forever grateful.

thanks

Renzo, a motherboard is just a motherboard, you dont need to do anything special when you install a new one (other than maybe updating the bios, which you dont need to do if the motherboard is new). When you do install the new board, make sure all your connections are properly plugged in and make sure to ground yourself before handling the board, as freakish static shock can bugger it up. But from my experience, you wont run into any probs, especially with XP, its very adaptable!

i get all that..................

but my point is it would be easy with a retail copy of XP, but i dont have that, all i have is the manufacturers provided discs which only work with my current hardware

the discs say on them specifically that they will only work with this computer, hence, if i change the motherboard, it is no longer the same computer and the recovery discs won't work. something to do with the recover discs recognisisng some code on the motherboard and if they dont see the right code then they won't work......

this is what i have been told in other forums. my point is, can i do this witthout having to buy a new copy of XP......i.e. by hacking bios or something like that so my recovery discs think its the same motherboard

i apologise if im being an idiot and totally missed the point here, but ive been doing a lot of reading on this lately and its all getting very very confusing to me..............

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I see. I mis-interpreted your question, my fault. Definitely if you're planning on using the recovery disks specific to your computer, then changing the motherboard will most likely get you into trouble. It will definitely be an asset to have your very own copy of XP for recovery purposes, as it tends to solve a lot of hardware/system issues. So if you're up to purchasing it, I think it would be a good investment. I dont know of any hacks that can fool the recovery disks into reading the information you want them to read, but if I do come across something useful I'll let you know.

Thanks man. You've been a great help.

It all seems like some conspiracy from the big companies not allowing you to upgrade and so being forced into buying a new computer.

Definately gonna build my own next time.

i know this will probably sound dumb, but...
have you given sony vaio a call?
part of what you paid for when you bought the computer was the operating system... if you decide to modify the computer, they should be able to work something out for you.

in fact, as you have a legitimate copy of xp, you can even contact microsoft tech support and they should be able to walk you through something.

after all, these are big corporations and they want to stay that way - some of that's through being monopolistic, but some of it's through providing customer service. hopefully, they won't try to milk you for more cash (another way they stay big).

also, there are some workarounds regarding switching hardware with xp.
here's a couple:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 013,00.asp
this has some specifically OEM stuff:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/03 ... _wpa_some/
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

good luck,
puck

cheers roarmeow..........i'll check those links right now.

i did phone Sony Vaio but they wanted to charge me £20 for any help because my PC is over 2 years old. Sick bastards.


EDIT: Those are some in depth links dude. Very helpful indeed.

After reading about OEM releases on http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1168010,00.asp i think i have finally understood my problem.

If i replace the motherboard then use my Sony Vaio Recovery Disks (OEM disks) to repair/reinstall XP, it will fail because the motherboard/bios activates the copy for me automatically.

So, with a new motherboard i will simply have to activate it myself by phoning Microsoft and explaining what i have done and they can sort it out for me. i.e. give me a new activation code.

Does this sound right to anyone?????????

Sounds right to me. If not, you have a legit licence to you OS so you might be able just to buy the actual Windows disc for a few pounds from somewhere sans licence. Does anyone know the legality of downloading an ISO from somewhere in a situation like this?

i've never seen anywhere you can download an unlicensed ISO, only direct copies of XP disc with the code, and then have to crack it with Activation Crack.

does anyone know if you can buy XP discs without a licence?