No Beep on Boot Up

This just started. My 5 year old Alienware is having trouble booting up.

After letting it rest it will boot up and I get a beep and it will run fine.

Is this a power supply failing? I can smell a very faint odor from the power
supply, but it doensn't smell hot.


Thanks for the help

Mark

MWB wrote:
This just started. My 5 year old Alienware is having trouble booting up.

After letting it rest it will boot up and I get a beep and it will run fine.

Is this a power supply failing? I can smell a very faint odor from the power
supply, but it doensn't smell hot.


Thanks for the help

Mark


These symptoms are often the sign of a failing power supply. After 5
years, you might as well replace it. Not too expensive unless the
Alienware computer uses a funny shaped power support or requires a PSU
with very high wattage... Ben Myers

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
MWB wrote:
This just started. My 5 year old Alienware is having trouble booting up.

After letting it rest it will boot up and I get a beep and it will run
fine.

Is this a power supply failing? I can smell a very faint odor from the
power supply, but it doensn't smell hot.


Thanks for the help

Mark
These symptoms are often the sign of a failing power supply. After 5
years, you might as well replace it. Not too expensive unless the
Alienware computer uses a funny shaped power support or requires a PSU
with very high wattage... Ben Myers

Thanks Ben, it's running fine but I don't know about tomorrow. I'm going to
replace the power supply very soon. The motherboard is an ASUS A7N8X2.0 and
it looks like a normal connection. Replacing it will be more than a 10
minute job. It is one of those Alien looking cases and the wiring is between
the case and the board the MB is mounted on.

I'm also going to switch out the MB and processor. I've done this before and
I've always replaced the hard drives. I'm not going to replace the hard
drives.

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???

You have helped me many times and THANK YOU


Mark

I

Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.

When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???

If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system (or if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply getting a
new computer to do what you need.

William

"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.

When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???

If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system (or
if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware
on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply getting
a
new computer to do what you need.

William



Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and they
are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to be a
problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day upgrading
XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I called
MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A few years
later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new computer.


Mark

MWB wrote:
"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.
When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???
If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system (or
if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware
on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply getting
a
new computer to do what you need.

William



Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and they
are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to be a
problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day upgrading
XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I called
MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A few years
later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new computer.


Mark



The only success swapping motherboards I have had with Windows XP is
when the motherboards, old and new, both had IDENTICAL motherboard
chipsets. There may be some additional latitude if the chipsets are
close, as with a minor upgrade from an Intel 845 chipset motherboard to
an 865 chipset board, but I remain skeptical. Microsoft always finds
ways to make it difficult for people. In particular, they structured
Windows XP so that a critical file specific to the motherboard chipset
is loaded very early on in the bootstrap process. As William says, if
the chipsets don't match between old and new, you get a BSOD telling you
that you have an inaccessable boot device, and there is not much one can
do about it.

With earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to go into the control
panel and delete the motherboard chipset drivers. This worked because
the Windows bootstrap relied early-on on generic IDE (or SCSI in my
system) drivers to get to the point where it loaded all the drivers
needed to make the system's chipsets work properly.

Microsoft did this to Windows XP using the excuse that it makes Windows
boot up faster. HA! Faster than what? Not Windows 2000, that's for
sure. The real reason was to stop people from doing what you want to
do, replacing a motherboard in a system as an upgrade... Ben Myers

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
MWB wrote:
"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.
When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???
If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system
(or if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able
to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware
on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply
getting a
new computer to do what you need.

William



Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and
they are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to be
a problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day
upgrading XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a
problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I
called MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A
few years later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation
again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new
computer.


Mark

The only success swapping motherboards I have had with Windows XP is when
the motherboards, old and new, both had IDENTICAL motherboard chipsets.
There may be some additional latitude if the chipsets are close, as with a
minor upgrade from an Intel 845 chipset motherboard to an 865 chipset
board, but I remain skeptical. Microsoft always finds ways to make it
difficult for people. In particular, they structured Windows XP so that a
critical file specific to the motherboard chipset is loaded very early on
in the bootstrap process. As William says, if the chipsets don't match
between old and new, you get a BSOD telling you that you have an
inaccessable boot device, and there is not much one can do about it.

With earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to go into the control
panel and delete the motherboard chipset drivers. This worked because the
Windows bootstrap relied early-on on generic IDE (or SCSI in my system)
drivers to get to the point where it loaded all the drivers needed to make
the system's chipsets work properly.

Microsoft did this to Windows XP using the excuse that it makes Windows
boot up faster. HA! Faster than what? Not Windows 2000, that's for
sure. The real reason was to stop people from doing what you want to do,
replacing a motherboard in a system as an upgrade... Ben Myers

I doubt you will remember this Ben.

I replaced a motherboard and processor a couple of years ago. I had trouble
formatting the drive sizes on a new hard drive. You told me to update to XP
and it worked. That was the only hitch I had.

I look at upgrading a computer as a nerve racking challenge.

That's why I come back here for help.


THANKS

Mark

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
MWB wrote:
"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.
When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???
If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system
(or if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able
to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware
on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply
getting a
new computer to do what you need.

William



Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and
they are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to be
a problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day
upgrading XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a
problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I
called MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A
few years later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation
again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new
computer.


Mark

The only success swapping motherboards I have had with Windows XP is when
the motherboards, old and new, both had IDENTICAL motherboard chipsets.
There may be some additional latitude if the chipsets are close, as with a
minor upgrade from an Intel 845 chipset motherboard to an 865 chipset
board, but I remain skeptical. Microsoft always finds ways to make it
difficult for people. In particular, they structured Windows XP so that a
critical file specific to the motherboard chipset is loaded very early on
in the bootstrap process. As William says, if the chipsets don't match
between old and new, you get a BSOD telling you that you have an
inaccessable boot device, and there is not much one can do about it.

With earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to go into the control
panel and delete the motherboard chipset drivers. This worked because the
Windows bootstrap relied early-on on generic IDE (or SCSI in my system)
drivers to get to the point where it loaded all the drivers needed to make
the system's chipsets work properly.

Microsoft did this to Windows XP using the excuse that it makes Windows
boot up faster. HA! Faster than what? Not Windows 2000, that's for
sure. The real reason was to stop people from doing what you want to do,
replacing a motherboard in a system as an upgrade... Ben Myers

Now why wouldn't MS want you to upgrade your system? That doesn't make any
sense. My home XP box is tremendously faster than the high-end Win2K CAD
stations we used at work (before I retired).

That said, the only real success I've had with putting a new MB in was if I
was using IDE drives; usually, XP would boot right up and start asking for
drivers for the 'new hardware found.' I've upgraded 3 XP systems with SATA
drives, and had marginal success with 2. One of them, no matter what I did,
had to be reformatted and reloaded. On the 2 that upgraded ok, I got the
SATA drivers from the MB website, temporarily installed a floppy drive,
booted from the XP CD, and went from there. 2 worked, 1 didn't. When the
activation screen came up, I called the phone number listed, told the tech
why I needed a new code, and they'd give it to me, no problem.

I've worked on MS systems starting with DOS 5.0 and working with Windows
systems since 3.0, have had numerous occasions to call them for one thing or
another and really haven't had too much of a problem with them. Most of my
problems came from the PC manufacturers when I was having a problem- their
first response (95% of the time) was 'It must be a Windows problem.' Even
after telling them what I had already done, they were reluctant to admit
that their system was the problem. The best was Compaq before the sold out
to HP, and the worst has always been Gateway. I'm still waiting (after 6
weeks) for my replacement HDD for my notebook, and whenever I call them,
it's the same lame excuse, 'We're waiting for the part to arrive.' I finally
got tired of it and bought a new drive from Best Buy, and will use the
replacement for an external system back-up drive.

SC Tom

SC Tom wrote:
"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
MWB wrote:
"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.
When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???
If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system
(or if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be able
to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new hardware
on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good, or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply
getting a
new computer to do what you need.

William


Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and
they are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to be
a problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day
upgrading XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a
problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I
called MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A
few years later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation
again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new
computer.


Mark
The only success swapping motherboards I have had with Windows XP is when
the motherboards, old and new, both had IDENTICAL motherboard chipsets.
There may be some additional latitude if the chipsets are close, as with a
minor upgrade from an Intel 845 chipset motherboard to an 865 chipset
board, but I remain skeptical. Microsoft always finds ways to make it
difficult for people. In particular, they structured Windows XP so that a
critical file specific to the motherboard chipset is loaded very early on
in the bootstrap process. As William says, if the chipsets don't match
between old and new, you get a BSOD telling you that you have an
inaccessable boot device, and there is not much one can do about it.

With earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to go into the control
panel and delete the motherboard chipset drivers. This worked because the
Windows bootstrap relied early-on on generic IDE (or SCSI in my system)
drivers to get to the point where it loaded all the drivers needed to make
the system's chipsets work properly.

Microsoft did this to Windows XP using the excuse that it makes Windows
boot up faster. HA! Faster than what? Not Windows 2000, that's for
sure. The real reason was to stop people from doing what you want to do,
replacing a motherboard in a system as an upgrade... Ben Myers

Now why wouldn't MS want you to upgrade your system? That doesn't make any
sense. My home XP box is tremendously faster than the high-end Win2K CAD
stations we used at work (before I retired).

That said, the only real success I've had with putting a new MB in was if I
was using IDE drives; usually, XP would boot right up and start asking for
drivers for the 'new hardware found.' I've upgraded 3 XP systems with SATA
drives, and had marginal success with 2. One of them, no matter what I did,
had to be reformatted and reloaded. On the 2 that upgraded ok, I got the
SATA drivers from the MB website, temporarily installed a floppy drive,
booted from the XP CD, and went from there. 2 worked, 1 didn't. When the
activation screen came up, I called the phone number listed, told the tech
why I needed a new code, and they'd give it to me, no problem.

I've worked on MS systems starting with DOS 5.0 and working with Windows
systems since 3.0, have had numerous occasions to call them for one thing or
another and really haven't had too much of a problem with them. Most of my
problems came from the PC manufacturers when I was having a problem- their
first response (95% of the time) was 'It must be a Windows problem.' Even
after telling them what I had already done, they were reluctant to admit
that their system was the problem. The best was Compaq before the sold out
to HP, and the worst has always been Gateway. I'm still waiting (after 6
weeks) for my replacement HDD for my notebook, and whenever I call them,
it's the same lame excuse, 'We're waiting for the part to arrive.' I finally
got tired of it and bought a new drive from Best Buy, and will use the
replacement for an external system back-up drive.

SC Tom



Let me say that somehow you have been lucky in doing swapouts of
motherboards on systems running XP. Or maybe you have a secret
procedure for doing so? It sure as hell never has worked for me the
times I have tried, except when the mobo chipset matches exactly.

You ask why wouldn't MS want you to upgrade your system HARDWARE? The
answer is mindlessly simple. Ka-ching! Ring up another $99 to $199 for
each copy of XP sold. If you read the fine print in the XP License
Agreement, it ties a licensed copy of XP to the motherboard on which it
is installed. So to put some teeth into the license, they make it hard
to switch mobos... Ben Myers

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
SC Tom wrote:
"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
MWB wrote:
"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:uhU8l.513694$yE1.132981@attbi_s21...
Hi!

I hope you won't mind if I chime in. :-)

I'm going to replace the power supply very soon.
When you do, pick a supply from a reputable maker:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/psuthoughts/

Will I have to reinstall WindowsXP??? Can I just install a new MB and
processor and just turn it on and every thing is fine???
If you just swapped the processor, you would not have trouble. But
swapping
the whole motherboard is likely to cause problems, especially if
you're
running the version of Windows that Alienware preloaded on the system
(or if
you loaded your own copy of Windows but used their product key).

The most likely problem you'll hit is that Windows simply won't be
able to
start because it doesn't have the software to run your hard drive
controller. It'll drop into a STOP error, typically
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

If you somehow get around that (loading the drivers for the disk
controller
on the new board might work--and sometimes, so will doing a "repair"
installation of Windows), then you'll have the problem of reactivating
Windows. I'm sure it will ask when it starts seeing all the new
hardware on
the replacment motherboard. Problem is, the new motherboard will also
cause
Microsoft's activation wizard to say that the product key is no good,
or
that Windows cannot be activated using the key affixed to the
computer.

I would leave the motherboard as it is, or give thought to simply
getting a
new computer to do what you need.

William


Thank You William

I'll get the power supply at a local shop. I've bought three there and
they are a very good quality and still working.

Windows XP did come on a system restore CD. I hope that isn't going to
be a problem. I will have to reformat the hard drive and spend all day
upgrading XP.

I've used the activation wizard several times and I've never had a
problem.

I built a computer for my son and transfered XP to that computer. I
called MS then and was told there was no problem with the activation. A
few years later I upgraded the MB and processor and used the activation
again.

It's so cheap to upgrade and I don't want to shell out for a new
computer.


Mark
The only success swapping motherboards I have had with Windows XP is
when the motherboards, old and new, both had IDENTICAL motherboard
chipsets. There may be some additional latitude if the chipsets are
close, as with a minor upgrade from an Intel 845 chipset motherboard to
an 865 chipset board, but I remain skeptical. Microsoft always finds
ways to make it difficult for people. In particular, they structured
Windows XP so that a critical file specific to the motherboard chipset
is loaded very early on in the bootstrap process. As William says, if
the chipsets don't match between old and new, you get a BSOD telling you
that you have an inaccessable boot device, and there is not much one can
do about it.

With earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to go into the control
panel and delete the motherboard chipset drivers. This worked because
the Windows bootstrap relied early-on on generic IDE (or SCSI in my
system) drivers to get to the point where it loaded all the drivers
needed to make the system's chipsets work properly.

Microsoft did this to Windows XP using the excuse that it makes Windows
boot up faster. HA! Faster than what? Not Windows 2000, that's for
sure. The real reason was to stop people from doing what you want to
do, replacing a motherboard in a system as an upgrade... Ben Myers

Now why wouldn't MS want you to upgrade your system? That doesn't make
any sense. My home XP box is tremendously faster than the high-end Win2K
CAD stations we used at work (before I retired).

That said, the only real success I've had with putting a new MB in was if
I was using IDE drives; usually, XP would boot right up and start asking
for drivers for the 'new hardware found.' I've upgraded 3 XP systems with
SATA drives, and had marginal success with 2. One of them, no matter what
I did, had to be reformatted and reloaded. On the 2 that upgraded ok, I
got the SATA drivers from the MB website, temporarily installed a floppy
drive, booted from the XP CD, and went from there. 2 worked, 1 didn't.
When the activation screen came up, I called the phone number listed,
told the tech why I needed a new code, and they'd give it to me, no
problem.

I've worked on MS systems starting with DOS 5.0 and working with Windows
systems since 3.0, have had numerous occasions to call them for one thing
or another and really haven't had too much of a problem with them. Most
of my problems came from the PC manufacturers when I was having a
problem- their first response (95% of the time) was 'It must be a Windows
problem.' Even after telling them what I had already done, they were
reluctant to admit that their system was the problem. The best was Compaq
before the sold out to HP, and the worst has always been Gateway. I'm
still waiting (after 6 weeks) for my replacement HDD for my notebook, and
whenever I call them, it's the same lame excuse, 'We're waiting for the
part to arrive.' I finally got tired of it and bought a new drive from
Best Buy, and will use the replacement for an external system back-up
drive.

SC Tom



Let me say that somehow you have been lucky in doing swapouts of
motherboards on systems running XP. Or maybe you have a secret procedure
for doing so? It sure as hell never has worked for me the times I have
tried, except when the mobo chipset matches exactly.

You ask why wouldn't MS want you to upgrade your system HARDWARE? The
answer is mindlessly simple. Ka-ching! Ring up another $99 to $199 for
each copy of XP sold. If you read the fine print in the XP License
Agreement, it ties a licensed copy of XP to the motherboard on which it is
installed. So to put some teeth into the license, they make it hard to
switch mobos... Ben Myers
(Sorry, Ben, hit the wrong reply button)

No real secret- the method I described worked on mobo's from Asus to MSI,
although I have to say, they all used AMD processors, not that it should
make much difference. I personally haven't used an Intel processor in years,
except on my notebook.

It's not really all that hard to get a new license key. A 5 minute max phone
call does it. I've used my same copy of XP on a minimum of 4 mobo swaps that
I can recall, with no hassle from MS. Not to mention a few video card and
HDD swaps that needed a new key. It's not as easy as it was a decade ago,
but, hey, this ain't DOS we're running anymore.

SC Tom