new motherboard working with xp on old hdd

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Wervie67

71 posts

Master Geek

#21914 10-May-2008 20:46

hey.

as i am thinking of upgrading my motherboard and proccessor on my currunt desktop system. i was wondering if my old hard drive with windows xp pro installed would still boot xp using a new motherboard and proccessor. or would microsoft security stop this?

current system:

MB: ASrock K7S41GX
Ram: 512mb Legend x1
HDD: 20gb (with os) (ide)
GPU: nvidia FX 5600XT
CPU: AMD Sempron 2400

fully Upgraded System (some bits may be different)

MB: ASUS M2N SLI

RAM:Corsair XMS 2GB (1gb x2)
Hdd: 500gb western digital (sata/ide) + 20GB (with os) (ide)
GPU: ASUS EN8600GT Magic 512mb
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+

i want to be sure before i buy.
ohh and can any1 tell me if you can use ide and sata hdd on the same mb?

and to anyone who might ask, i have a 32-bit version of xp

Cheers in advance :)

grant_k

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#129943 10-May-2008 21:02

williamirvine67: i was wondering if my old hard drive with windows xp pro installed would still boot xp using a new motherboard and proccessor. or would microsoft security stop this?

I did this a couple of months ago and I found that I needed to re-install Windows XP from the original CD because the system wouldn't boot up.

Having done this, all of my original settings were preserved, but I needed to re-activate Windows within 3 days IIRC. As soon as I had the network driver installed, I connected to the internet and it activated immediately with no problems.

williamirvine67: ohh and can any1 tell me if you can use ide and sata hdd on the same mb?

Yes, no problems there although many newer motherboards only have one IDE port so you may end up sharing a single cable between your DVD Drive and your IDE Hard Drive. Sometimes that can slow down access to either or both devices.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#129948 10-May-2008 21:19

What happens is that these motherboards are completely different. The new HDD is SATA and the old one IDE. The GPU is ASUS instead of NVIDIA and the CPU is now a 64 bit one - all completely very different, and everything needs drivers.

There is no "Windows Security" in play here. You need to update the drivers for this new system to work, so yes you will need to reinstall most likely. If you have a genuine Windows XP then you will need to authenticate it again because the hardware is completely different.

Wervie67

71 posts

Master Geek

#129949 10-May-2008 21:22

thanks,

so all i would need is the xp cd and a COA code to reinstall it?
would i need a new COA or could i use the one on my pc case?/ do you even need a coa code to fix it or will it use the currunt one in memory?

and if i get a new Hard Drive it would be much better if i used sata

Cheers

grant_k

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#129950 10-May-2008 21:27

williamirvine67: so all i would need is the xp cd and a COA code to reinstall it?
would i need a new COA or could i use the one on my pc case?

I was able to use the COA code from the original sticker supplied with my PC.

williamirvine67: do you even need a coa code to fix it or will it use the currunt one in memory?

No, when you re-install, Windows XP asks for the COA code to be entered again.

williamirvine67: and if i get a new Hard Drive it would be much better if i used sata

Yes, definitely. Capacity can be much greater and transfer speed is much faster.

freitasm

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#129951 10-May-2008 21:33

williamirvine67: so all i would need is the xp cd and a COA code to reinstall it?
would i need a new COA or could i use the one on my pc case?/ do you even need a coa code to fix it or will it use the currunt one in memory?

Technically an OEM version is licensed to a specific motherboard/CPU. If you replace those then you would need another license.

It may work. Or not. Also an OEM key may not work if you don't have an OEM CD - and you will need the correct version as well. Windows XP or Windows XP with SP2? Different codes for different products...

Vorbis

176 posts

Master Geek

#129958 10-May-2008 21:59

You would be better off doing a clean install anyway, even if by some miracle XP boots, you'd have all those old nasty drivers from the old components lurking around to cause possible problems. I tried doing something similar on Vista and it spat the dummy.