On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 09:10:02 -0800, brawn wrote:

> I appreciate any confirmation of what I intend to do. I want to change out
> my MB to a faster, newer, better one. I want to take my existing, working
> hard drive with Windows XP Home and use it with the new MB. From what I have
> read, it sounds like all I should need to do is run XP repair install from my
> window CD to get it recognized. Does this sound correct? Anything you would
> advise I look out for, do different, or misunderstand?

Windows 9x adapts to new hardware much more gracefully than Windows NT
based operating systems (includes XP). In exchange for the headaches that
go with the OS being more hardware specific, we get a version of Windows
that is more stable than the previous Win9x family.

Having once tried a straight swap of motherboards, only to see the XP
installation die a painful death -- I'm a firm believer in the "repair
install is mandatory" approach. Recovery was impossible after the failure
(no repair option offered) and had to resort to a clean install to get the
system up and running. No fun.

If there are user forums for your motherboard, you may also want to check
whether XP setup provides basic drivers for it or if you'll need to supply
these drivers during the setup stages. If you need to provide them, this
will entail pressing F6 when the text prompt is available during the repair
install. You'll also need a floppy disk with the drivers on hand.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User