Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
 ·VoicePulse
| [Vista] Changing motherboards without reinstalling
I find myself in a situation. Normally I set up a dedicated OS/Program Files drive, and put all of the data on another, making it simple to reformat/reinstall windows when I need to.
But in my media PC, I only have room for 2 drives. Both are 1TB, running SATA AHCI mode, and both are holding more than 700Gb of data - including the OS/C drive. I do not currently have large enough backup drives to move the data (music and movies) off the of C drive.
The problem is that I need to replace the motherboard. The current board is an Asus P5E-VM HDMI, which is a G31/ICH9 chipset. I'm replacing it with an Asus P5Q-EM, which is a G45/ICH10 chipset. I've experimenting with switching between AHCI and Standard mode in the bios, and Vista is able to boot just fine swapping back and forth. But what are the chances the same will hold true if I swap to the ICH10?
Given the data, a reinstall isn't much of an option - atleast not without buying more backup drives. Are there any tricks you guys can recommend, other than pre-installing the newer Intel inf before shutting down the old board? Or for that matter, does the ICH10 even require a different driver?
-activation/licensing won't be a factor-
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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acehyde
Tired.
Premium
join:2001-08-14
clubs:
| Whenever I have to replace a motherboard, and can still boot into the operating system I will boot into safe mode, remove all devices from device manager shut down, and replace. Windows will usually find all the hardware and ask for drivers on the parts and pieces that it can't identify. |
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
 ·Corporate Colocation
| reply to Camelot One
I am betting the ICH9 and ICH10 drivers, along with the chipset drivers, are all the same. If you were going from Intel to AMD, I'd worry. But I think you'll be fine.
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Linux Haters Unite! |
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chefmws
Never Trust A Fat Chef
join:2001-06-28
Duluth, GA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Camelot One
symantec has a product called Backup Exec System Restore.
With the workstation version you can strip out the system drivers from the backup image you make and then when you restore your image back to the new drive and system, windows will then ask you for your new drivers and be up and running.
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If it is dead and edible i can cook it !!!
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs: | I forgot about Backup Exec, I have a copy of that somewhere, so I'll give it a shot. |
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Razzy
join:2002-10-29
edit:
September 3rd, @07:08PM
| reply to Camelot One
I think you should be alright ...
I have done only one motherboard change on a Vista machine but I have done WAY too many XP machines.
This is assuming you are changing motherboard with a different chipset.
If original motherboard is bootable, you can change the hard disk controller such as "VIA Bus Master IDE Controller" to "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller". As long you have it set to that, Windows will boot from pretty much any IDE controller.
If original motherboard is dead, and you get the blue screen upon boot, you'll need to do an offline registry change and extract a few files from a cab file... I have a BartPE CD that does it.
With AHCI, I don't have much motherboard changing experience with it but I do see "Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller" in Vista's device manager database... But I saw you were able to switch between IDE and AHCI without a problem with Vista and that's cool! |
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chefmws
Never Trust A Fat Chef
join:2001-06-28
Duluth, GA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Camelot One
said by Camelot One  :I forgot about Backup Exec, I have a copy of that somewhere, so I'll give it a shot. the symantec product is a new product. it is not the regular backup exec. do a search on BESR or Backup Exec System Restore.
this product is very similar to the current ghost versions. you get several added features though, with one of them being able to strip out the drivers from the image.
BTW.. got your IM... i am the guy you bought the drives from. I do not have any more of the carriers you were asking about. I just do tech support now. No more sales.
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If it is dead and edible i can cook it !!!
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