BEFORE I install/replace my motherboard

Before I install my motherboard, is there anything that I need to know? I have only installed a mobo on a brand new system, I have never replaced one before. I read something about needing a Windows XP installation disk. I only have the reinstallation disk because I am pretty much completely upgrading my system. The thing is though is that my cd-roms do not work at the moment. I replaced my case which means that I switched everything (including the old motherboard) over. Now that I have enough money, I got a new mobo, video card, ram, and processor. Also, I was wondering if I should uninstall any drivers before I shut down my system. I still cannot figure out why my drives are not working, but I am hoping that a new mobo will fix things. Please Help!

 

If your replacing major hardware like a new motherboard, unless it's the same model/chipset most likely your going to need to reinstall windows = format & clean install. (your replacing several major hardware components, Plan on complete reinstall of Windows)


Your post isnt clear about what kind of windows CD you have, if it's restore disk and your new motherboard is different, your restore CD will not work.

You mentioned your cd drives dont work after swaping or moving to new case, you need to check to make sure you connected them correctly, check IDE cables/power cable/jumpers.
If the PC is working, check the device manager for problems, check bios, can bios see the drives?
A new mobo wont fix a drive that's connected wrong, nor one that's fried, better to find out on the old PC first.

 

All you need to do is plug all your hardware in together and turn it on,go into the bios select cdrom as first boot device,the cd will load some basic drivers then you will proceed with the installation.With a new mobo you must wipe the harddrive and do a fresh install of windows,so backup any important files,before you wipe it,the new hardware will come with its own drivers which will do until you can get the latest ones from the internet,the one you must make sure you have is your modem driver,so you have access to the web if you need files or to troubleshoot,if you have 2 comps its no problem.

 

Wow, that's bad news... i guess that means i have to spend even more money just for windows xp

Anyways, I think they are all connected right and I set the jumpers. No, the bios does not detect them. Instead, it detects stuff that isn't there such as two scsi dvd roms and a floppy drive But what you are saying is that both of my drives could be fried? I have a cd and dvd burner so I doubt they are both fried. Also, I will lose everything that I have then? All of my files and downloads and games? I have to reformat the harddrive completely? Man, I thought that this was going to be an easy upgrade.

 

You may not if your computer came with an official windows code with a hologram and barcode,or whatever they come with now,you may be able to use that license if you can borrow a copy of windows,I'm not sure though,see what others say,or contact microsoft.

 

ok, i was thinking about it. I am not too worried about purchasing a copy of windows xp, I am worried about losing ALL of my stuff since I don't have a working burner. But what I forgot to mention is that I have two hard drives. Would it be OK if I moved all of my progs and files and stuff to the secondary hard drive since my master hard drive is my boot drive?

BTW, does anybody know why it is detecting two scsi dvd roms and a floppy when I have never had a floppy drive in the first place?

 

Yes, you can transfer important stuff to another drive.
You can connect as slave on another PC, or slave on this one, load windows on your other hdd.

It's unlikely you had 2 drives fry at tha same time??
Ive seen extra floppy drives appear before but never two scsi.

In bios you might have setting called:
"Reset Configuration Data" (Try enable this & see)

Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

Quick Review

If you install a new piece of hardware or modify your computer's hardware configuration, the BIOS will automatically detect the changes and reconfigure the ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data). Therefore, there is usually no need to manually force the BIOS to reconfigure the ESCD.

However, the occasion may arise where the BIOS may not be able to detect the hardware changes. A serious resource conflict may occur and the operating system may not even boot as a result. This is where the Reset Configuration Data BIOS feature comes in.

This BIOS feature allows you to manually force the BIOS to clear the previously saved ESCD data and reconfigure the settings. All you need to do is enable this BIOS feature and then reboot your computer. The new ESCD should resolve the conflict and allow the operating system to load normally.

Please note that the BIOS will automatically reset it to the default setting of Disabled after reconfiguring the new ESCD. So, there is no need for you to manually disable this feature after rebooting.
( the above is from BIOS Guide):
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1

 

cant add any help here but maybe im just lucky. i switched from an old gateway mobo to an asus and and the same time upgraded the processor,video card and such only thing original was my hd and my 2 cd drives. this was the first ive ever built and was worried about losing everything on my hd. anyways i figured id try and just fire it up i was amazed it just simply worked as if i had changed nothing. i know i was relieved that was about 6 months ago and still doing good so maybe im just lucky or maybe ummm i dunno it works lol

 

WOW @ ej25lvr! That would be really nice. Has anybody else had this happen?

A big thanks to ASUS for helping me to better understand the bios!