I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few
questions.
1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to
new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my
system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final
answer.
2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed?
Nick
Do you need to reinstall Windows after a motherboard swap?
A user who bought a new motherboard and Athlon XP 2400+ asked whether Windows would blue-screen. Most advised a clean reinstall, noting NT-based systems usually fail to boot after a board change. The K7S5A probably needed a BIOS update for the new CPU, and he exchanged the board for a more compatible one.
hardware: PC/graphicstech support
Automated summary.
Yes, if you changed from an Intel based system to AMD then it will most
likely blue screen as many of the drivers will be out of whack. Best to do
a complete reinstall of the OS.
The 2400XP is 2GHZ I believe or there abouts.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (12 lines)
> I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > questions. > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > answer. > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > Nick >Nick,
Not trying to make you feel badly on New Years' Eve but why on earth would
you buy this stuff at CompUSA? :0) I was just at CompUSA browsing and saw
the XP 2100 on SALE for $169 ($199-30 rebate). I'll be upgrading to that
chip in a few weeks for about $88 via the web. No reason to pay the CompUSA
premium these days.
Try www.newegg.com for upgrade and system building. Been doing it for 10
years and newegg is the best vendor yet.
--
Joe M.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few
> questions.
>
> 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to
> new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my
> system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final
> answer.
>
> 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed?
>
> Nick
>
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote:
Depends on your OS, if it's an NT based OS like 2000 or WinXP, then yes,
it happens almost every time and you get the "inaccessible boot device"
error
If it's Win9x, chances are you'll be able to boot to Windows, but you
won't have access to your CD-Rom, and since you don't have access to
your CD-Rom you won't be able to install the drivers for your MoBo
The best way would be a reinstall as Schooner says, but it's not
strictly nesessary, just make sure you have the drivers for your MoBo
copied to your HD before you to the MoBo swap, you'll need the 4in1
drivers and the drivers for the UDMA100 HD controller, the latter ones
may fit on a floppy
But quite frankly, whenever I do a major system change like that I
prefer to do a clean install of the OS at the same time, saves a lot of
trouble shooting should you have problems, at least you won't have to
chase down and remove old drivers etc
> 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed?
Wouldn't that be a 2.0 Ghz CPU....?
Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
http://www.theuspits.com
"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--
Quoted text (8 lines)
> > I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > questions. > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > answer.Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I did a mobo upgrade about 8 months
ago, hoping to just pop my existing hard drive into it, as well. --- No
Way. It did manage to boot as I recall, but what apps managed to run, ran
S-L-O-W. So, I ended up having to re-format and re-install
The good news is that you'll have a nice fresh system to start off with
again..
BTW -- The Athlon 2400XP runs at 2.0 Ghz Good Luck with the new system.
Oh.....and don't use the axe when replacing the mobo. 8-)
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote:
Quoted text (11 lines)
> I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > questions. > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > answer. > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > NickSorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I did a mobo upgrade about 8 months
ago, hoping to just pop my existing hard drive into it, as well. --- No
Way. It did manage to boot as I recall, but what apps managed to run, ran
S-L-O-W. So, I ended up having to re-format and re-install
The good news is that you'll have a nice fresh system to start off with
again..
BTW -- The Athlon 2400XP runs at 2.0 Ghz Good Luck with the new system.
Oh.....and don't use the axe when replacing the mobo. 8-)
Windows is gonna find ALL kinds of nifty stuff when you fire up yer new
setup. I have cheated once in the past, and didnt start with a fresh HD, but
was not satisfied with the results down the road. Better to start with a
fresh install. Good luck.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (12 lines)
> I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > questions. > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > answer. > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > Nick >> If it's Win9x, chances are you'll be able to boot to Windows, but you
> won't have access to your CD-Rom, and since you don't have access to
> your CD-Rom you won't be able to install the drivers for your MoBo
Unless you copy the contents of the MB CD onto your HD *before* you swap
the board. I do this with the OS setup CD too. Then I don't have to fish
around for a Windows CD every time it wants a driver.
Hi Nick.
Hard drives are so cheap now...if I was you, I'd buy a new one, do a fresh
install on it, and use your current one as slave. This way you'll have a
system that runs properly, and you'll be able to recuparate all your
important data.
Good luck.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (12 lines)
> I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > questions. > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > answer. > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > Nick >Interesting, I guess I'm better off doing a complete reinstall. Another
question if you don't mind; Someone told me I would have to update BIOS
immediatly after installing the mobo. This I have never done before. How do
I do it; where do I find the updated BIOS? The board is an Elitegroups K7S5A.
Thanks for all your input and thanks again in advance,
Nick
Goy Larsen wrote:
Quoted text (40 lines)
> "Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote: > > > > I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > > questions. > > > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > > answer. > > Depends on your OS, if it's an NT based OS like 2000 or WinXP, then yes, > it happens almost every time and you get the "inaccessible boot device" > error > > If it's Win9x, chances are you'll be able to boot to Windows, but you > won't have access to your CD-Rom, and since you don't have access to > your CD-Rom you won't be able to install the drivers for your MoBo > > The best way would be a reinstall as Schooner says, but it's not > strictly nesessary, just make sure you have the drivers for your MoBo > copied to your HD before you to the MoBo swap, you'll need the 4in1 > drivers and the drivers for the UDMA100 HD controller, the latter ones > may fit on a floppy > > But quite frankly, whenever I do a major system change like that I > prefer to do a clean install of the OS at the same time, saves a lot of > trouble shooting should you have problems, at least you won't have to > chase down and remove old drivers etc > > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > Wouldn't that be a 2.0 Ghz CPU....? > > Beers and cheers > (uncle) Goy > > http://www.theuspits.com > > "A man is only as old as the woman he feels........" > --Groucho Marx--I find a nice format every 6 months or so to be, well.. therapeudic.
To make it easier, write down a list of programs you want on the new
harddrive. Move all important files that you can't download to some CDRWs.
Go to your mobo manufacturer's webstie, get the latest drivers. Same with
videocard. Burn those onto a CDR too. Format the drive, boot from the
windows disk. Load on windows. Load all the new drivers you downloaded.
Download and install all latest versions of the programs you use. Install
your games, copy over your save-games and mods, etc. Then you're rockin' it!
:)
if you got the cash, what Robert suggested (getting two drives) is a cool
idea. You install the OS and all that on one drive, and games and important
data on the other. Then all you have to do is format the OS drive. OR, do
what I said above, and before you load on the operating system, create a
drive partition to do the exact same thing, but for free :)
Nice Floydian name btw..
Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com
"Robert Gravel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:PVrQ9.19275$[email hidden]...
Quoted text (25 lines)
> Hi Nick. > > Hard drives are so cheap now...if I was you, I'd buy a new one, do a fresh > install on it, and use your current one as slave. This way you'll have a > system that runs properly, and you'll be able to recuparate all your > important data. > > Good luck. > > "Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > I just purchased a new motherboard and CPU from CompUSA and I have a few > > questions. > > > > 1.) The gentleman I bought them from said that once I've installed to > > new mobo, my computer will "blue screen" and I'll have to re-format my > > system. Is this true? I've heard otherwise, but I'd like a final > > answer. > > > > 2.) The CPU I bought is the Athlon 2400XP, what the ghz speed? > > > > Nick > > > >
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote:
>
> Interesting, I guess I'm better off doing a complete reinstall. Another
> question if you don't mind; Someone told me I would have to update BIOS
> immediatly after installing the mobo. This I have never done before. How do
> I do it; where do I find the updated BIOS? The board is an Elitegroups K7S5A.
As Joe B said, you'll find stuff like this on the web, but why you'd
need to update the BIOS is beyond me, the old saying, if it's not broke,
don't fix it applies here
I used to check the ASUS site for BIOS updates every month when I was
doing the OC thing, looking for every last performance bit, even loaded
beta versions of the latest BIOS and had something like 10 BIOS versions
for my MoBo sitting on my HD so that I could go back to previous
versions if someone found a new performance setting that only gave
increased performance on that particular version....talk about being
obsessed eh
These days I don't touch the BIOS unless I have a specific problem, I
still check the ASUS site every so often and look at what the latest
BIOS version fixes, if it fixes something that may be related to the way
I use my PC's, I may update the BIOS as a pre emptive strike, but that
hasn't happened in the past year, in fact, over the past 2 years I
believe I've updated the BIOS on either of my PC's 3 times, 2 of those
was in an attempt to make the XP2200+ work on an older MoBo and the last
one was to fix an intermittent BSOD
BIOS updates, unlike driver updates, are strictly bug fixing or to
introduce support for a larger HD or the latest CPU or something like
that, for the average user there's little to gain by updating the BIOS
Also, a slight word of warning, updating the BIOS is one of the few
areas where you can actually do some real harm to your PC without
dropping it or using solid objects to beat it up, it is possible to
update the BIOS on your MoBo with one that doesn't actually suit your
MoBo.....and even if you do manage to get hold of the right BIOS update,
sometimes the update still fails
Updating the BIOS is something I only do if I believe it will fix a
problem or it introduces an enhancement I really need, you can check for
yourself here....
http://www.ecsusa.com/downloads/k7s5a.html
I'm not 100% sure this is the correct place to DL a BIOS for your MoBo
revision, please make sure before you use it, you'll notice that support
for your CPU was added back in 09/09, but if the BIOS version on the
MoBo doesn't support the CPU you have, it's unlikely it will boot up at
all
I would just go ahead and do the swap if I were you, just a word of
advice, if you haven't worked on AMD CPU's before, it's absolutely
*VITAL* that the heatsink and fan be correctly installed, unlike Intel
CPU's the AMD's will self destruct without proper cooling
Install the CPU and HS/Fan before you install the MoBo in the case, that
way its easier to see what you are doing and you can check if the HS is
actually in contact with the CPU, if you look at the bottom of the
heatsink you'll notice that it's not perfectly flat and it's actually
possible to install it the wrong way around, I'm only mentioning this
because I've seen people install the HS the wrong way around with
predictable results, happens more often than you might think and with
people who ought to know better :-)
Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
http://www.theuspits.com
"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--
"Goy Larsen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
How do
> > I do it; where do I find the updated BIOS? The board is an ElitegroupsK7S5A.
>
> As Joe B said, you'll find stuff like this on the web, but why you'd
> need to update the BIOS is beyond me, the old saying, if it's not broke,
> don't fix it applies here
>
Probably needs the new bios since it added support for the XP 2400 chip. I
have the same board my bios will only recognize up to an XP 2000 IIRC. I
need to flash for XP 2100-2600.
--
Joe M.
Quoted text (7 lines)
> > > "Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote: > > > > Interesting, I guess I'm better off doing a complete reinstall. Another > > question if you don't mind; Someone told me I would have to update BIOS > > immediatly after installing the mobo. This I have never done before.
"Joe M." wrote:
>
> Probably needs the new bios since it added support for the XP 2400 chip. I
> have the same board my bios will only recognize up to an XP 2000 IIRC. I
> need to flash for XP 2100-2600.
In which case he might have a problem since it's unlikely that it will
even boot if the current BIOS doesn't support the CPU he
has.....hopefully his board is manufactured after 09/09 then
Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
http://www.theuspits.com
"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--
"Goy Larsen" wrote...
> <snip>
> In which case he might have a problem since it's
> unlikely that it will even boot if the current
> BIOS doesn't support the CPU he has.....hopefully
> his board is manufactured after 09/09 then
It's possible to program the required bios version into the EEPROM using a
device programmer... i.e. seperately, not via the MB itself. Once the EEPROM
is plugged backed into the board it should be ready to accept the new CPU.
Jan.
=---
Jan Verschueren wrote:
Of course, and if this had been something that happened to me I'd return
it to the store I bought it from and expect them to fix it for me, this
is not something the average customers should have to deal with
themselves, basic functionality out of the box should be guaranteed
imho, at least I do that with my customers
Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
http://www.theuspits.com
"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--
Quoted text (11 lines)
> > "Goy Larsen" wrote... > > <snip> > > In which case he might have a problem since it's > > unlikely that it will even boot if the current > > BIOS doesn't support the CPU he has.....hopefully > > his board is manufactured after 09/09 then > > It's possible to program the required bios version into the EEPROM using a > device programmer... i.e. seperately, not via the MB itself. Once the EEPROM > is plugged backed into the board it should be ready to accept the new CPU.Damn straight! :)
As a matter of fact, I'm about to leave to do an exchange and get a more
compatible mobo and some other things. So thanks for all the help you guys, I'll
keep you updated on my progress.
Nick
Goy Larsen wrote:
Quoted text (26 lines)
> Jan Verschueren wrote: > > > > "Goy Larsen" wrote... > > > <snip> > > > In which case he might have a problem since it's > > > unlikely that it will even boot if the current > > > BIOS doesn't support the CPU he has.....hopefully > > > his board is manufactured after 09/09 then > > > > It's possible to program the required bios version into the EEPROM using a > > device programmer... i.e. seperately, not via the MB itself. Once the EEPROM > > is plugged backed into the board it should be ready to accept the new CPU. > > Of course, and if this had been something that happened to me I'd return > it to the store I bought it from and expect them to fix it for me, this > is not something the average customers should have to deal with > themselves, basic functionality out of the box should be guaranteed > imho, at least I do that with my customers > > Beers and cheers > (uncle) Goy > > http://www.theuspits.com > > "A man is only as old as the woman he feels........" > --Groucho Marx--"Goy Larsen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
>
>
> "Joe M." wrote:
> >
> > Probably needs the new bios since it added support for the XP 2400 chip.I
> > have the same board my bios will only recognize up to an XP 2000 IIRC.I
> > need to flash for XP 2100-2600.
>
> In which case he might have a problem since it's unlikely that it will
> even boot if the current BIOS doesn't support the CPU he
> has.....hopefully his board is manufactured after 09/09 then
>
I don't think it's issue cpu support, it's cpu identification. When I
upgraded on my old BX mobo, it could not IDENTIFY the new cpu but all the
bios settings supported it so I could have continued without a bios update
(same FSB and voltage as the old cpu just a different multiplier). I
believe this is the case with the XP chips for that board. He'll simply
need to manually set the FSB and voltage and once the bios is flashed the
system will post the proper cpu id when booting "2400XP".
--
Joe M.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" wrote:
>
> Damn straight! :)
>
> As a matter of fact, I'm about to leave to do an exchange and get a more
> compatible mobo and some other things. So thanks for all the help you guys, I'll
> keep you updated on my progress.
Did it start at all ?
Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
http://www.theuspits.com
"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--
You really should re-install but if you want to try to get away with not,
boot into safe mode and remove pretty much every driver you can get away
with before you boot into regular windows first. That will usually work.
Clean install is the best "peace of mind" method when you replace a system
board.
"Careful with that Axe, Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
