I just ordered a new motherboard and I wanted to know if I can just plug in the old hard drive and it will work? I heard somewhere that you wont be able to just plug in the hard drive but I dont know, thanks

Yeah, you should be able to-- just be sure to set the jumpers correctly. The motherboard should recognize it.

Also, if you're talking about being able to boot Windows or whatever OS, you might even be able to do that, if the system can detect changes in the hardware.

someone on another forum said if its a different kind of motherboard then you will get a boot error when you try to start up and be asked to re install windows or something

Ok well, if you have Windows 2000 or XP installed, you will probably have to reinstall 2000/XP, meaning you'll have to format the computer, this is because the driver's will be all jumbled up and all the old drivers won't be recognized causing it to go berserk . If you have Windows ME this won't happen, it will still work, you'll just have to download new drivers. So the safest thing to do would be to back up all the files you have now onto another harddisk and then reinstall XP when you get the new motherboard.

$hadow

If you have Windows XP you will have to wipe the hard drive and start over. If you have Windows 2000, please let us know and get instructions BEFORE you make any changes.

How can I back up all of those files that I want to keep, really though I can probably back up the files i want to keep on cds because i just need to keep things like photoshop and other things like that i think

The link in my sig related to Reinstalling Windows leads to two articles. One of them is a detailed guide to preparing for a reinstall.

You will need to back up your data files and other user data. Your installed programs, of course, will need to be installed again later, from your program CDs.

ok ok so, before I make any changes or upgrades to my motherboard I need to..

backup my old files - do i have to back up like graphics card drivers and all my other drivers and stuff?

whipe hard disk clean - link in your sig

install windows - on new mobo

The link in my sig leads to a pair of articles. One is about preparation, the other is about installing.

Do you really have to reinstall Windows for this?

I've never done it with XP, but with 98, I could do it, with some changes. I went from an Amptron POS to an ASUS board, and all I had to do was remove everything from System Devices under device manager-- pretty much everything else went okay.

This makes me wish I had another box to try this on... I've got a motherboard, but I don't have the RAM, CPU, or hard drive to give this a shot on. I'll be darned if I tear apart my main box, either!