Hello, soon I'll be attempting to upgrade the motherboard in a computer I have here. Will I need to format and reinstall windows? Thanks.
what exactly are you doing? If you are getting a new motherboard then it will not effect Windows as that is on your hard drive. If you have a system like Dell that ships Windows with their computers then you will need to get another copy. The copies that they give you with a system work well on that system, but not with a new motherboard. I tried using the Windows from my Dell computer when i built a new on, and although it worked i had many glitches and error messages.
if new board uses a different chipset than will have to re-install windows. read this link http://www.informationweek.com/show...0KVUKAQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=189400897 about XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option
Its a "TIME" machine and was brought over from the UK. It has an MS-6378 ver2 I want to replace with anything I can find with socket A + AGP 8x slot. I have win98 and an XP upgrade CD and have since downloaded SP2. Reinstalling would not be a major loss as this machine has hardly nothing on it anyway, Im just worried my windows will no longer be valid. I'll have a read of that link, thanks
well, there are free sources out there where you can get a full windows CD if you look hard enough. I can not really say a lot more in a public forum due to it being illegal. But i have seen both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Pro around the net.