Still dithering on upgrades

[Bikewer]

Hehe-havn't done anything yet...

Tiger Direct has "barebones kits". This gives you a case, MB, processor, fan, power supply, memory, etc.
Very attractive price, 269.00 for the on-sale item which features a 2.9 Gig dual-core pentium, 500 watt power supply, MB with PCI express and all...

This seems like a good deal. I have 2 good hard drives, new DVD drive, nice 19" monitor, all that.

Question though about the OS. Will plugging in my existing drives "give" me my current installation of XP? Or will I have to re-install/use the recovery disc, etc.

[rocketdodger]

It might work, but it isn't guaranteed.

(Most) Executables are stored on your disk in binary. If the architecture of your new cpu is different from the last one, it probably won't work right.

That being said, I know most PC cpus are engineered for backwards compatability. I would say go ahead and try it, if not you can always just put the OS on a new drive and still get all the files from the old ones like that.

[Molinaro]

Here is what you do to increase the likelyhood of doing swap like that without any problems:

1) Put all the drivers you will need for the new MB on your HD before taking apart the PC.

2) Just before you power down for the last time, go into the device manager and uninstall all the drivers that will need to be replaced.

I've done that many times with 95/98/2k without any trouble. I havn't tried it yet with XP.

[Apollyon]

It can be done. One of the best guides I've used for doing this is from the Arstechnica forums:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/1400925745

A few things to comment on. Is your existing video card already PCIe? Does the new motherboard use DDR2 or standard DDR?

Also, you may want to hold off your purchase until the Intel Conroe processors come out, which should be in a week or two. Their performance is far above and beyond anything currently available and even the cheapest version will smoke the best P4 like a cheap cigar.

[a_unique_person]

Don't forget 500W can just mean it will put out 500W for a second before it goes up in a puff of smoke.

You will probably have to reinstall the drivers. Make sure you have them all ready before changing the drives over.

[Meffy]

You might want to google for "tiger direct" complaints before ordering from them. They have a reputation for (1) very good deals if you get what you ordered and it's in good order, and (2) making it very difficult to set things right if they ship the wrong thing, damaged goods, or even, in some cases, a box of nothing.

I lucked out on my one order from Tiger Direct, about a decade ago. Others haven't been as lucky.

[a_unique_person]

Also, you are now finding yourself in the terrible grip of "unique's law". "Given a multitude apparently equally plausible options, you end up dithering and doing nothing".

[stormer]

Here is what you do to increase the likelyhood of doing swap like that without any problems:
--snip--
2) Just before you power down for the last time, go into the device manager and uninstall all the drivers that will need to be replaced.
--snip--


I agree with the above, and would also suggest that the last boot up before you remove the drivers would be to boot up in "safe mode". In other words, boot into safe mode, then uninstall the drivers, then shutdown and change the hardware.

Booting into safe mode releases the drivers and allows them to be uninstalled in "device manager" without complaints from the OS.

You might need to re-activate your copy of Windows if it detects that enough hardware has been changed.

Also, you may want to hold off your purchase until the Intel Conroe processors come out
--snip--

I too think you should wait for Conroe.

[a_unique_person]

Yes, another reason to do nothing. Still, it's an excellent way to save money.