XP repair Option with new motherboard

[digmen1]

Hi Guys

This is a bit hard to explain.

A friends motherboard died, so we installed a new one.

We connected up the original hard drive with XP and data files on it. It works OK.

But we do not think we are getting the best performance from the new motherboard.

We think it is due to the fact that XP on the hard drive still thinks it is working on the old motherboard. (There is always lots of CPU activity)

Could this be true ?

If so would running the XP repair option fix the problem in that hopefully it would recognise the new motherboard and configure itself to suit the new motherboard ?

Any comments ?

regards

Digby
NZ

[lynx]

Make sure you have installed the drivers for the new motherboard. The old board may be sufficiently similar that the drivers work, but they may not be running at optimum efficiency.

Another thing you could try is going into device manager, select "view hidden devices", then delete all the devices you know are no longer present. It helps by preventing the system from searching for these devices at bootup.

It would be easier to give you more relevant help if you gave us the make and model of the old and new motherboards.

[Appzalien]

That's right, every motherboard, including the one you put in, has its own set of drivers. Windows will use generic drivers in a pinch but the ones made especially for the board are best. The problem is the old drivers may conflict with the new drivers so you need to get them off the drive. Either by uninstalling directly (if the old mobo had an nvidia chipset look for nVidia drivers) from the add remove programs page or get a driver cleaner program, there are several good free ones around.
If the old mobo still functioned you should have removed the drivers for it while it was still in the machine and then shut down, removed it and installed the new one. Next time.

[Shiranai_Baka]

Basically, if the chipset is the same as the old driver, it should work fine.

[lynx]

Basically, if the chipset is the same as the old driver, it should work fine.

I'm not sure that often happens unless the board being replaced is bang up to date.

Often though, the chipset drivers for the new board are backwards compatible with the old board (assuming they are from the same family), so updating the drivers FIRST (when possible, not in this case) will usually do the trick. One reason why it is often useful to update drivers to the latest versions, even if you aren't going to gain any benefit.