Do You Need To Reformat Your Hdd When Instaling A [Archive]

leonidas

11-17-2003, 04:32 AM

Originally posted by bob_the_alien@17 November 2003 - 05:12
Yes, a ghost image will work with the new mobo
Even if my backup was done on cds?

Virtualbody1234

11-17-2003, 04:41 AM

Why do you want to restore from a backup? You're changing the board not the hard drive.

Is your new motherboard using the same chipset?

leonidas

11-17-2003, 04:52 AM

Here's about my curent chipset:

http://www.uploadit.org/files2/171103-000000000liflvjf.jpg

And the mobo I will install is an Asus A7N8X-X.

Virtualbody1234

11-17-2003, 05:09 AM

Ok, I see that you have a AMD chipset now and you want to change to an Nvidia chipset.

My recommendation is to backup any data you want to keep (not nessasarily the whole system) and then try booting up with the new board.

Since you are changing chipsets, the chances are less for Windows to bootup. If it doesn't bootup then format and reinstall Windows.

leonidas

11-17-2003, 05:17 AM

Thanks VB. You consolidate one more time your position of wise lord in this section :lol: :)

3RA1N1AC

11-17-2003, 07:25 AM

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@16 November 2003 - 21:09
Since you are changing chipsets, the chances are less for Windows to bootup. If it doesn't bootup then format and reinstall Windows.
a reinstall should be adequate, neverminding the reformat. not to start a debate here, but i've switched from one brand of chipset to another and reinstalling does the trick-- reformatting is unnecessary.

Pitbul

11-17-2003, 08:52 AM

your changing a major peice of hardware. i advise u to re-format just to be safe. i installed a new one and re-formatted cause sometimes windows has a fit when u change to much hardware and dont re-format.

clocker

11-17-2003, 01:51 PM

Why not give your eager, new board a shiny, fresh copy of Windows to play with?

It's not that much trouble, is it?

3RA1N1AC

11-17-2003, 07:29 PM

Originally posted by Pitbul@17 November 2003 - 00:52
your changing a major peice of hardware. i advise u to re-format just to be safe. i installed a new one and re-formatted cause sometimes windows has a fit when u change to much hardware and dont re-format.
windows does not have a fit when you change too much hardware. you just have to learn some simple maintenance skills. it's just a computer, it's not voodoo.

clocker

11-17-2003, 07:37 PM

Originally posted by 3RA1N1AC@17 November 2003 - 12:29
it's just a computer, it's not voodoo.
Oh really?

Lately my PC has been demanding blood sacrifices.

So far it's been happy with goats, but it's starting to make noises about virgins...

Virtualbody1234

11-17-2003, 07:44 PM

Maybe not voodoo but it's rocket science. :P

Why not give your eager, new board a shiny, fresh copy of Windows to play with?
:) :) Now you're talkin' :) :)

http://www.mcbriens.net/liam/img/smilies/thmbup.gif

Nightwolf

11-19-2003, 02:51 AM

Originally posted by clocker@17 November 2003 - 08:51
Why not give your eager, new board a shiny, fresh copy of Windows to play with??
It'll just be messed up again in a few weeks anyway. I'm with 3RA1N1AC, just learn to deal with your problems as they come. Reformatting is overkill.

clocker

11-19-2003, 03:09 AM

Nightwolf,

Out of curiousity, how many motherboards have you changed out and did you have any problems with Windows afterwords?

kurtsl0an

11-19-2003, 03:15 AM

Originally posted by clocker@19 November 2003 - 03:09
Nightwolf,

Out of curiousity, how many motherboards have you changed out and did you have any problems with Windows afterwords?
shouldn't have 2 many problems after swapping a mobo as long as u have xp and a mobo driver disk - :D

clocker

11-19-2003, 03:29 AM

Does that "shouldn't" equal " I know for a fact"?

I am curious simply because when I got my new board a few weeks ago, I was told to definately reformat/install.
That's why I'm asking how much of this advice is based on personal experience and how much is secondhand info...

kurtsl0an

11-19-2003, 03:47 AM

Originally posted by clocker@19 November 2003 - 03:29
Does that "shouldn't" equal " I know for a fact"?

I am curious simply because when I got my new board a few weeks ago, I was told to definately reformat/install.
That's why I'm asking how much of this advice is based on personal experience and how much is secondhand info...
it equals "i know for a fact" - :D

i did have a gazillion problems after installing a new mobo on a win98 pc back in the day, but xp at least gives u a chance to reinstall the new drivers b4 u get some obtuse error and a lock up...

clocker

11-19-2003, 03:51 AM

That's good to know.
Thanks.

lynx

11-19-2003, 04:06 AM

You will almost certainly have to start up in safe mode. The drivers for the amd chipset will conflict with your new hardware and will have to be removed. For the IDE drivers you can only do this in safe mode. After the next reboot your system should correctly identify the new hardware.

I assume your current chipset is fully ACPI compliant. If not, the system will not boot when you change over to the new chipset in which case a re-installation of windows will be necessary. However, if you simply remove a few files (I can't remember which ones off hand but I can find out if necessary) the installation will proceed as if it were an upgrade and will retain all your existing software.

kurtsl0an

11-19-2003, 04:08 AM

Originally posted by lynx@19 November 2003 - 04:06
If not, the system will not boot when you change over to the new chipset in which case a re-installation of windows will be necessary.
y won't the system boot? u've expereinced this problem with XP? XP should load default chipset drivers if they are unknown....

lynx

11-19-2003, 04:14 AM

It will probably be ok because I'm not sure if you can run XP on a non-ACPI compliant system anyway.

But for some reason there is a different set of boot drivers for ACPI compliant systems compared to non-ACPI systems (on NT & 2K) so you can't get a system configured for one type to run on the other. I don't know the exact reasons why, you would have to ask Microsoft.

kurtsl0an

11-19-2003, 04:18 AM

Originally posted by lynx@19 November 2003 - 04:14
you would have to ask Microsoft.
all for the low low price of only $245 dollars - no thanks - :lol:

3RA1N1AC

11-19-2003, 06:30 AM

i'm glad that a couple of people supported my advice. if you've invested a lot of time & energy installing and configuring your programs, a reformat can be a huge pain in the ass, so you may as well deal with the problem directly instead of wiping the hard drive at the first sign of trouble. ;)

yes, in some cases a newly formatted system might perform better than an old installation, but due to inexperience or simply bad luck (with things like hardware incompatibilities or bad drivers) you can have plenty of problems with a newly reformatted system too. with the proper maintenance/troubleshooting though, an old Windows installation can perform just as well as a new one.