"maurice" wrote in message
u...
Ok, two very different opinions here,

JAD "1. after the install of the MB boot with XP CD and do a repair
install
from the console"

DaveW "2. Unless you replace the motherboard with the EXACT SAME
MOTHERBOARD,
including version, etc., you'll be hosed if you don not reformat the
harddrive and do a CLEAN install of the OS"

Dave, have you had first hand experience with swapping identical chipset
boards and having to reformat. Do you have reason to believe the repair
console wont work?

I normally would reformat but the client has had some custom software
installed which will need to be reconfigured by the vendor if I have to
reinstall the OS.

Anybody else had good or bad luck with either of these scenarios?


I had to do much the same recently when an Asus A7N8X stopped working on a
Saturday evening - I had an Abit NF7 available, so swapped the components
over and rebooted, started Windows (XP Home) in Safe Mode, went to Device
Manager, removed everything it would allow, ignoring the requests to reboot
until I'd finished, then rebooted properly and allowed Windows to re-detect
all it needed. I don't recall it asking for the installation disk, it just
sorted itself out and has been fine since (about 3/4 weeks). I did have to
re-activate Windows due to the hardware changes but that wasn't a problem.

HTH
Martin