Building a computer

If I got this combo http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5635015&sku=B69-4083 would I be able to use my existing Maxtor SATA hard drive with XP on it with it and would my information stay intact on it? Thanks.

Paula

 

It depends on the board and CPU you have now. I have swapped motherboards that were similar and had XP load , install any new drivers, reboot and run fine. I have also seen how trying it going from older to current board/cpu technology just gives BSOD, corrupts XP's files and you have to reinstall.

My suggestion is BACKUP all data/files/pics/music/ FIRST, then try booting once you install the new hardware. Maybe into safe mode, but you've got a 50-50 shot. Be prepared to reinstall XP (with that new hardware Win 7 would be better).

Sam

 

Thanks for the reply and the advice. My CPU right now is Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz and the motherboard that came with my Dell Dimension 4700 which is upgraded about as far as it will go which is why I want to do this. I'd like to get a new HD and upgrade my Windows, too, but I can't afford it all right now which is why I want to try it this way. So if I did happen to lose my data, this hard drive would still work and I could reinstall Windows? I don't want that but I could do it if I had to. I do plan to later on upgrade the HD and Windows but just can't right now. Thanks again.

Paula

 

Yes your hard drive will work with that motherboard. As I said backup everything you don't want to lose (to CD or DVD, USB flash drives, etc) first. That way if you do have to reinstall XP you wont have lost it all.

I recently did a board swap on a friends old HP system (Athlon XP 1.8Ghz CPU, 512mb DDR memory, AGP slot video card) with a board/cpu (Athlon XP 2.2Ghz, 2Gb DDR2 memory, PCI Express video card, replaced dead IDE CD drive with SATA DVD-RW) from a Compaq that was a couple years newer. We were going to install Windows 7 anyway so we tried booting with the old hard drive that had XP on it and to our surprise it booted up, installed the drivers it needed for the new hardware it found and after a reboot, XP ran fine. We ended up wiping the drive and installed Win7 anyway.

Sam

 

Thanks for the help. Maybe mine will just work, too. That would be awesome. If not I'll just start clean. I really wouldn't mind that so much except that the program I use for my job will have to be reinstalled and I have to have the company do it and will take a little time so that's the main reason I'm hoping not to lose it but if I do, they will replace it. Thanks again!

Paula