If I understand you correctly, you want to install a new motherboard and
processor, but keep everything else intact.

In other words, 'pull the rug out' from under your existing system and
peripheral hardware, and replace it with another.

If that's the case, I can tell you that, from my experience, and I've done
it many times, this isn't a problem.

I asked a lot of questions about this process, (not on this forum) back when
I first decided to try it, and I got a lot of negative feedback about it,
everyone told me that it wouldn't work, and that I'd screw up the OS by
exposing it to another CPU and motherboard.

However, I went ahead and did it. And it worked.  So I've done it many times
since then, without a hiccup.

What you will need, of course, are the drivers for your new motherboard.

When the machine fires up for the first time, the sytem will 'discover' lots
of new gadgets, and will want to know where it can find information about
them. In most cases, steer it to C:\Windows\Inf.  Sometimes the Inf folder
can't be seen, so you can't browse to it, you need to type in the path.

This process might require several reboots.  Just go with the flow, ignoring
stuff like audio, GFX and LAN (if these items are built-in to the
motherboard) and when the dust finally settles, you can start installing the
correct drivers for your hardware.

If the motherboard has a VIA chipset, VIA have a 'blanket' collection of
drivers, which cover all their chipsets.  You'll probably get a newer
version than the one on the CD that accompanies the motherboard, direct from
the VIA website.  The last one I got was 4.42 but this might now be out of
date.

Don't be dismayed if, at the end of the preliminary process, the screen
looks dreadful - it will, probably in 16 colors, until it has the correct
display drivers.

I have a loose hard drive with W98SE on it, which has been cumulatively
exposed to about 10 different motherboards and chipsets, over several years,
and it still runs fine.

Ian Porter
Computer Guys Inc.
Arrowtown
New Zealand
[log in to unmask]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J Kopczewski" Subject: [PCBUILD] Motherboard Upgrade


> I want to upgrade my Celeron 700 system to an AMD based 1800 system.

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