Upgrading to Conroe C2D, do I need to reinstall Windows?

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:43 am

Hi guys:

You are the knowledgeable ones, I need some advice.

I'm upgrading my system to Core 2 Duo.I know many of you are probably upgrading to conroe the same way I'm doing it.

And I need to know wether I need to reinstall Windows XP again, or if there is a way that I can have windows running without much effort.

WHAT I HAVE

-Motherboard : ASUS P5WD2 Premium
-CPU: Penitum 4 670 Prescott 3.8 Ghz.
-250 SATA drive running on AHCI
-2 GB Memory.
-Windows XP Professional (RETAIL) with SP2

WHAT I"M GETTING

-Motherboard : ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (Latest Rev, will post with C2D)
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93 Ghz.
-I'm keeping the same drive with Windows XP installed
-4 GIG Memory Corsair (4x1 GB Sticks)

Nothing else changes.

I've been reading some stuff on the internet, some people say they run SYSPREP, but some of them have had some issues. (specially when the motherboard have different brand)

Others talk about having the same HAL or ACPI, but I don't really know.
I'm moving from an Asus Mobo to another Asus Mobo, the old has 955 Chipset, and the new one has the 975.

I'm running my SATA HD on ACHI, and I provided drivers on my current windows installation to run on this mode (F6 when I was installing). Do these boards share the same driver as well?

I know many of you are upgrading with the same components I'm getting, so I need to know if anyone could get away with it without reinstalling Windows.

Thanks so much in advance!

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:14 am

You will not need to reinstall, but you will need to reactivate Windows and Office. This will involve phoning Microsoft (follow the onscreen instructions). Just explain that you replaced your motherboard, and they will give you an activation code.

I went from a P5LD2 with an 830D to a P5W DH Deluxe with an E6600, also using AHCI, and all I had to do was reactivate.

Denorios · Post by **Denorios** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:28 am

Technically speaking, you can replace every single component as many times as you like, and windows will adjust if you supply the correct drivers. Although replacing the motherboard will most likely require reactivating windows.

In practise, windows won't behave as well as it would with a clean install. I've never kept an install when replacing the motherboard.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:42 am

Thank you guys for the replies.

I've actually spoke with one of the Techs in the company I work for. And they say I DON"T NEED TO REINSTALL WINDOWS.

When I asked him about using SYSPREP, his eyes popped out (LOL!!) and said a big NO,NO.

So you guys just booted in Windows, a couple of driver installs and that's it...

Cool. Thanks again.

pcweltz · Post by **pcweltz** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:45 am

Should work fine.....I ported my windows install from a Nforce/AMD X2 config to a P5W DH/X6800 with no problems. I would highly recommend flashing to the current 1101 P5W DH BIOS with your 670 prior to installing the C2D....there are still people having posting issues with BIOS versions older than 901.

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 12:20 pm

Ignoring the matter of product activation, the issue here comes down to the hard drive controllers and whether the drivers for motherboard Aâ€™s controller are compatible with motherboard Bâ€™s. This is only in reference to the boot drive.
Both boards use the Intel ICH7R south bridge so you should have no problem. I just migrated an installation from a system with an ICH7 south bridge to one with the later ICH8 with no problems.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:32 pm

hmm... I expect you won't actually *need* to reinstall, but wouldn't you be better off doing so anyway?

I think if I were splashing out on a shiny new C2D/mobo, I wouldn't want it hobbled with an old, well-used Windows installation complete with cluttered registry, bloated MFT and so on, not to mention possible stability issues which might emerge at a later date.

A clean format/reinstall is a bit of a pain admittedly, but surely not that big a deal if you want to maximise your enjoyment of your new rig...

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:46 pm

I would just re-install Windows to prevent it to lock itself up to some incorrect driver and DLL hell.

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:05 pm

Iâ€™ve migrated NT4 & Windows 2000 systems in the past across multiple motherboards from Intel to AMD and back again with no problems. This was a system used for software development and was completely reliable otherwise I would have rebuilt it.

I would try the migration but make sure that your data files arenâ€™t on the Windows partition. This is so that if the migration goes bad on you, you can zap the Windows partition without losing anything. In fact, itâ€™s always a good idea to keep your data on a separate partition. If I had my way all systems would ship with 2 partitions, with the My Documents folder automatically being stored on the non O/S partition.

So really, I canâ€™t see what youâ€™ve got to lose in trying the migration. The upside is very big and the downside is small.

L3thal · Post by **L3thal** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:56 pm

A clean install of Windows would be the best way to go. You don't wanna have older drivers and files conflicting with your new motherboard drivers.

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:12 pm

I would go about it two ways:

First, I would try just booting right in to windows with the new hardware and see what happens. If it doesn't freak out, you're all set. (well, first I would back up anything important on to a separate HDD before tearing the current rig apart)

if it did freak out I would just do a Repair install off the XP cd. All new Windows, but no need to reinstall all your apps and files and settings. Much simpler than a wire-and-reload clean install.

Ardemus · Post by **Ardemus** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:29 pm

Hello SPCR!

Yes, you can switch motherboards without reinstalling Windows XP. However, I've only done it a few times so I'm certainly not aware of every complication.

Generally, Windows configures itself automatically like it did for the first motherboard. However, it needs the correct HD controller to get that far. Like smilingcrow said, you probably have the right driver installed. If not, there are two solutions:

1) Install the new HD controller drivers before installing the hardware.

2) Install the hardware and boot to your WinXP CD so you can boot to your Windows XP CD and "repair" your installation. I haven't done it in a while, but you can try booting and look up the error on the MS Knowledge Base. They have a complete writeup.

If I remember correctly there are two different "repair" options. The first boots to a command line for diagnostics and trouble shooting. You want the second one, which scans your hardware and updates your device drivers (I don't think it does much else).

I've done it both ways with no issues. A friend of mine has never reinstalled Windows although he changed motherboards a half dozen times (he makes way too much money). Anywho, it's definitely possible.

Ardemus · Post by **Ardemus** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:42 pm

Here is Microsoft's write-up of the topic. They recommend "upgrading" if you can boot windows or "repairing" if you can't.

How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

Note: This article explains that "repair":

...installs the HAL, the IDE controller drivers, and any other drivers that the new motherboard must have.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:59 pm

My new parts are arriving next Wednesday. I will post here with my results. Either good or bad, I'm sure it would help others.

I just made myself 3 floppies:

1) BOOTABLE FLOPPY
2) AFUDOS and P5W DH Deluxe BIOS 1101 (to flash the mobo if necessary)
3) INTEL MATRIX STORAGE DRIVERS to get my HD on ACHI when F6 on Windows XP install just in case.
4) Backed up everything important (files) on another 300GB HD.

I'm going to just run Windows, once I put everything together and see how it goes. Since my older mobo and the new one have different chipset (955 vs 975) but they have the same ICH7R.

As you can see I'm slowly preparing everything for the worst case scenario. I hope it works, and if it doesnt... OH Well.

I've heard that intalling windows on these conroes is a blast (very very fast)

Your replies are very appreciated guys, thank you. And I will come back with news.

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:31 pm

When you get the board, check the version number on the BIOS flash (it's near the bottom of the board). If it says 0901 or 1101, then you can go ahead and install the Conroe. If it says 0701, install the old Prescott instead, because the Conroe won't POST. You can use the Prescott to flash the BIOS using AFUDOS or EZ-Flash.

This is from experience: I had to swap CPUs an extra two times between my old and new boards because 0701 BIOS wouldn't boot with Conroe...

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:08 pm

Oh man, thanks for that info

Before they shiped it, which was yesterday morning I spoke with a rep, and asked if this was the latest rev. They say yes, and they were aware of the problem with this board and conroes, reason why they had these mobos recalled by Asus, and the new ones they are selling are the right ones. So I'm crossing my fingers.

Anyway, you say that the 901 or 1101 numbers are written in the board itself? Or in the box?

Thanks a lot again.

PD: I've heard some people having issues with the temperature sensors on this board, showing very high mobo temps. Is that true, does it happen to you?

Is there a current discussion on this on SPCR?

Thank you again.

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:57 pm

oscar3d wrote:Anyway, you say that the 901 or 1101 numbers are written in the board itself? Or in the box?

It's on a stick-on label on the flash, which is the only socketed part on the board (except of course for the CPU and memory). No indication on the box.

oscar3d wrote:I've heard some people having issues with the temperature sensors on this board, showing very high mobo temps. Is that true, does it happen to you?

Is there a current discussion on this on SPCR?

There is a discussion (so far not very informative) about the reported CPU temperatures being too low. I haven't seen anything about MB temperatures. My reported CPU temperatures are lower than I expected, but not by a whole lot. My MB temperatures seem a little higher than my fingers indicate they should be, but again, not by a whole lot.

The Probe2 program keeps flashing CPU temperature 256 (yeah, right) every once in a while, but SpeedFan doesn't do this.

Still some bugs to work out...

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:20 pm

Thanks.

Then, so far it has run pretty stable for you without any mods (on the motherboard) right?

I don't plan to overclock this new system.

I've read a long discussion when some people mention putting 40mm fans on the NB and SB. But I'm a silence freak, so I don't want more fans

Anyway the discussion is here plus a great guide about changing the Thermal Paste on the chipset.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... p?t=106563

Though IMHO, by reading that forum, I've seen people that have made this without any significant changes. I say it's kind of an overkill.

Anyway, I just want to ask if it runs stable for you so far?

Thanks for your valuable input.

cstup · Post by **cstup** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:18 pm

I was recently looking up a similar move, as I was going to move an Intel system to an X2 setup, without wanting to reinstall XP.

Now that the C2D is my next upgrade, I'll be doing an Intel->Intel swap, although still doing the recommended procedures listed in some of these links.

YMMV.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
http://www.maximumpc.com/2005/01/how_to_slipstre.html
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/for ... 925745/p/1
http://motherboard.windowsreinstall.com/

Good luck!

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:42 am

It has been rock solid (I haven't started overclocking yet).

The only issue is the Probe2 bug mentioned above.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:50 pm

So as promised I'm posting my results (3 days after putting the rig together)

SUCESS!!! Didn't need to reinstall Windows XP.

I just put my new rig to work, P5W DH with Conroe X6800. (Before that I had a Asus P5WD2 Deluxe)

I've pre-prepared my board taking out the heatsinks of NB and SB, and putting Arctic Silver 5. And 3 minutes before putting the board into my case, the shipping ground guy appeared with a BIOS chip that I requested from Asus carriying the BIOS 1101.

I took the BIOS Chip 0701 that came with the board with a small flat head screwdriver, and planted the Bios Chip that arrived.

Only 4 words, this freaking thing rocks!

Turned it on, and it DID POST with my X6800 no problem.
I didn't let it go to Windows right away, so I went to the BIOS config.
Disabled Jmicron. Then rebooted again, and plugged the HD with Windows already installed from my previous rig.

Windows fit like a glove, it run and intalled some drivers automatically and then voila, stable windows.

CONFIRMED: I did not have to reinstall Windows!! Thank god. Of course I installed Intel Chipset INF stuff, after for better compatibility.

Cool, excelllent, all running.

I'm glad to say that the CPU Temp right now is 23C and the Mobo has a system temp of 38C!!!!!!! Awesome, putting AS5 Thermal paste, plus taking out those stupid gold plated things from the NB and SB heatsinks was the answer!!!

I'm saying this after 3 days that this happened, to make sure I'm not making unverified judgements.

Thank god for this awesome and documented guide to prepare my motherboard before assembling the system.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... p?t=106563

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:34 pm

Your CPU temps are so low because they aren't actually the CPU temps! The P5W DH uses a thermistor on the board near the CPU socket instead of the on-chip sensors.

To get the real CPU temperatures, you need to use Everest ($30) or Core Temp (share). They will be quite a bit higher, but still lower than you are used to.

Glad your install went so smoothly. Most early adopters of this board had some teething problems. Here's a link to a summary of the issues (mostly related to overclocking): http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110193

Upgrading to Conroe C2D, do I need to reinstall Windows?

Upgrading to Conroe C2D, do I need to reinstall Windows?

Re: Upgrading to Conroe C2D, do I need to reinstall Windows?

I've switched motherboards successfully

Link to "How to replace the motherboard..."