>>>It could get stuck in a blue screen loop and the only option is to format the drive and start from scratch.

But would I be able to attach it to another machine and at least pull the files off it even if the operating system was hosed?

Bruce


--- On Sat, 9/4/10, Ron Jobe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Ron Jobe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] What is reasonable to expect after paying to replace mother board?
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Saturday, September 4, 2010, 6:00 PM

Bruce,
I won't replace an E-machines motherboard.  In order to follow the MS
Windows/E-machines licensing, I can only replace the motherboard with an
exact replacement or I have to install another OEM version of Windows.  The
cost of the E-Machines specific motherboard is roughly $250, not including
labor.  The cost of another motherboard and Windows OEM runs about the
same.  By the time I reload Windows and change the motherboard you're
looking at the same price as a new machine.  Installing a different
motherboard into an existing WinXP installation is always dicey and fraught
with trouble.

Be aware, if you do this wrong, you can end up loosing everything on your
hard drive so make a complete backup first.
You can Google "HAL", hardware abstraction layer.  You need to delete the
HAL from your system (this is what Rick was saying).  Restart the computer
and provide the drivers as it asks for them.  The system SHOULD work fine
after that.  The caution is that if you feed it the wrong driver(s) it won't
function at all.  It could get stuck in a blue screen loop and the only
option is to format the drive and start from scratch.

Ron Jobe



      

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