ECS Motherboard Help

[Quakindude]

That's like trying to take a Chevy motor (your hard drive) and put it in a Ford car. It just ain't gonna work. You will have to reinstall Windows unless you can find and go through the very long list of Windows registry entries that tap drivers for your old chipset.

As previously stated, you're best off reinstalling Windows. Anything else is bound to lead to problems and data loss.

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by Pandora

Interesting why would I need to reinstall windows? Why couldn't I just install the correct drivers for the motherboard and continue to run windows? Is this because it might cause a conflict between the OS and the new drivers for the motherboard?

I think Quake pretty much summed it up. His and other post on the subject. I have yet to see the practice ever really work. The problems run well beyond just a few drivers. I can tell you what I would do in case there is no easy going back. I would snag a reasonably priced new HDD and install it. Leave the old HDD out for now. I would format and install Windows and get things running nice and stable.

Next I would install the old HDD and from within the new Windows install take ownership of files and folders on the old drive and retrieve what you want and need. Considering the cost of a HDD is not that much I would go that route.

Make sure if you do this that if the drives are PATA you set the Master / Slave relationship accordingly.

Ron

[One4yu2c]

It's very possible you could get away with swapping motherboards without a Windows reinstallation, particularly if you take the time to uninstall various drivers beforehand (I've had mixed results doing this). But I'll echo previous sentiments in that your best course of action is to back up your data and start fresh. At the very least, be prepared to go that route, because Windows may force your hand anyway. Even if it doesn't, you could be looking at reduced performance, unknown conflicts, and just general system wonkiness. And the worst part is, the first time something quirky happens, you'll be wondering whether it was related to the mobo swap, or some other completely unrelated issue, making troubleshooting an unnecessarily frustrating affair.

[Pandora]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

It's very possible you could get away with swapping motherboards without a Windows reinstallation, particularly if you take the time to uninstall various drivers beforehand (I've had mixed results doing this). But I'll echo previous sentiments in that your best course of action is to back up your data and start fresh. At the very least, be prepared to go that route, because Windows may force your hand anyway. Even if it doesn't, you could be looking at reduced performance, unknown conflicts, and just general system wonkiness. And the worst part is, the first time something quirky happens, you'll be wondering whether it was related to the mobo swap, or some other completely unrelated issue, making troubleshooting an unnecessarily frustrating affair.

Ok folks I thinks I get the message I will backup all the data that I want and then re-format and do a fresh install of windows in order to avoid any problems creeping up later and then like you said wondering if it is because of the motherboard or some other thing on my computer. So thanks guys you have helped me down the right path. Just one other thing after I re-install windows how do I then install the drivers for the new motherboard? Or will the new installation of windows detect it ? Basically what I asking for here is some simple instructions and I am sorry if this sounds nubish but I don't want rush in like a bull in a china shop I want to get it right

[screwballl]

XP is good enough that it should have most of your stuff working properly. Anythting that doesn't, you can go to the ECS website and download the drivers for the chipset and stuff.

[Capper]

Thats definitely the best course of action.

Although Windows may boot, and you may seem to have good "functionality", those drivers tell all the different components how to communicate. Most importantly the chipsets, which basically control the entire board and how everything interacts with Windows.


Although removing specific drivers is kind of a band-aid affect, solving many problems....you just cant solve all the problems this way, as once drivers are installed, other things kinda tumble in place (software settings caused by driver selection and such.

Anytime you replace a motherboard, its always best to do a clean install of Windows, and also a good time to visit the board makers website and make sure you have the latest drivers.

[Stormcrow]

It may be wise to grab the drivers and burn them to disc/thumb drive before you reinstall Windows however. On more then one occasion I haven't been able to access the internet without the chipset drivers, and unless you have a second computer it might be worth getting them first just in case.

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

It may be wise to grab the drivers and burn them to disc/thumb drive before you reinstall Windows however.

Seconded - have the latest chipset drivers handy and install those right off the bat. Then everything else, such as graphics, sound, etc.

Also, are you installing XP with SP2? If not, are you at least connected to a router? If you answer 'no' to both, be absolutely certain you've installed a firewall before connecting to the internet.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

If you answer 'no' to both, be absolutely certain you've installed a firewall before connecting to the internet.

Forgot about that important tidbit. An unprotected fresh install of Windows, especially Vanilla and SP1 flavors, can be stung by a botnet within minutes if not seconds of being connected to the internet.

[Pandora]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Forgot about that important tidbit. An unprotected fresh install of Windows, especially Vanilla and SP1 flavors, can be stung by a botnet within minutes if not seconds of being connected to the internet.

Yes I will be installing windows with SP2, What I wanted to know is do I install the OS first and then install the drivers for the motherboard or install the drivers first then windows?

Also with reguards to the bios is that contained within the drivers for the motherboard or do I have to install it seperately and if so how do I do that i.e. do I have to do it in windows or what for I don't know


p.s I just wanted to say that I will be a getting a new hard drive since doing it this way will cause me less headache than doing it with me old hard drive.