Thor
October 15th, 2002, 14:48 PM
Alfred Poor's Computer Cures article in the June, 2002 issue of "Computer Shopper" said you could install a new motherboard without having to reinstall the operating system (and everything else!) by hacking the registry! For Win98, just delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ENUM folder (subkey), which contains all your hardware settings, just before you shut down for the new installation. It says Win98 will then detect the new hardware and rebuild the registry key when you boot up for the first time
However, I have WinXP Pro installed , so I had to do some digging in the registry. I did a Find (Ctrl + F) for "asus", the brand name of the old mobo, and found all the hardware settings under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE. Of course, I backed up everything, did a Restore Point with the intact registry, deleted the registry key and did a second Restore Point, then shut down to install the new mobo. When I tried to boot to Windows the first time, it got caught in a cycle of rebooting; I got a DOS-type window with three different options in Safe Mode, using a Restore Point or a normal boot to Windows. No matter which option I took, it still rebooted. Sooo, I booted with the WinXP CD and took the (new) Installation path until I came to the Repair option. I was happy to find that afterwards, when it booted to the desktop after the Repair, all the clutter on the desktop was still there, plus, I had a working firewall, antivirus, etc.! The first thing I did was go to the Windows Update site where I had to get all the updates - a *very* small price to pay compared to reinstalling everything. When I opened Outlook Express, all of the e-mail downloaded with absolutely no problem and all of the e-mail, subfolders and preferences where intact; although I *did* have to go through the Message Rules and reassign the subfolders I had set up for e-mail to be sorted into! Tomorrow I'll go through and recheck all the other settings I haven't checked, but it's working just fine for now. Victory!!!!
This tip certainly takes the "dread-factor" out of installing a new mobo so I hope you'll make a note of it for future reference if you ever plan this upgrade. It saved me a 24- to 36-hour reinstall marathon! HeHe!
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These directions are from a close friend.
Thor
However, I have WinXP Pro installed , so I had to do some digging in the registry. I did a Find (Ctrl + F) for "asus", the brand name of the old mobo, and found all the hardware settings under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE. Of course, I backed up everything, did a Restore Point with the intact registry, deleted the registry key and did a second Restore Point, then shut down to install the new mobo. When I tried to boot to Windows the first time, it got caught in a cycle of rebooting; I got a DOS-type window with three different options in Safe Mode, using a Restore Point or a normal boot to Windows. No matter which option I took, it still rebooted. Sooo, I booted with the WinXP CD and took the (new) Installation path until I came to the Repair option. I was happy to find that afterwards, when it booted to the desktop after the Repair, all the clutter on the desktop was still there, plus, I had a working firewall, antivirus, etc.! The first thing I did was go to the Windows Update site where I had to get all the updates - a *very* small price to pay compared to reinstalling everything. When I opened Outlook Express, all of the e-mail downloaded with absolutely no problem and all of the e-mail, subfolders and preferences where intact; although I *did* have to go through the Message Rules and reassign the subfolders I had set up for e-mail to be sorted into! Tomorrow I'll go through and recheck all the other settings I haven't checked, but it's working just fine for now. Victory!!!!
This tip certainly takes the "dread-factor" out of installing a new mobo so I hope you'll make a note of it for future reference if you ever plan this upgrade. It saved me a 24- to 36-hour reinstall marathon! HeHe!
*******************************************
These directions are from a close friend.
Thor