Changing my motherboard, need help!

[whiteape]

I have a Dell E310 and am buying a microBTX motherboard. It is a DG965CO. See, the problem is, I have read you need an XP disk to swap out your motherboard. Well, guess what, I dont have one. Dell didnt send me one. I was wondering what my options are, because I dont want to buy a copy of windows. I have XP Media Center Edition, and I DO NOT have a floppy drive. Is there a way I could make a boot disk on a CD and not a floppy and would allow me to repair windows after switching out my mobo? Thanks in advance.

[bubba]

Well, if you buy a NON Dell mobo you will have to get a new XP disk. ALL Dell XP install disks and serials are locked to Dell hardware.

If your buying a new mobo and you have XP MC already, drop another $10 on the 3.5 floppy. Your going to need it to install SATA controller drivers when you do the clean XP install any way (Dell or after market).

Another thing to look at, all and I mean ALL the Dells I have here at work that are the BTX form factor, their card readers do not have standard internal USB header plugs on them. They are Dells bastard plug. So if you have a 3.5 bay card reader you will need to check it to see if it has a standard plug. If it doesn't then your going to need a new one of those as well.

[vbironchef]

well spoken, so true.

[whiteape]

I don't have a card reader, glad I wont have to deal with that. I do have a Windows XP disk, I think it is SP2. Will I need to reinstall EVERYTHING because its not Media Center Edition. Or, is there any possible chance I could make a disk on a CD Rom and not a Floppy, although I do have an extra floppy drive in our old '98. But, If i backup the MCEdition on floppies, will I need to have the disk, or will I just be able to use those floppies to reinstall. And, one more question, what are you meaning by the SATA cables? Thanks for the replys, and I hope I will be able to replace this Mobo without much fuss, but im not really in any hurry, because I will probably purchase it after Christmas, hopefully.

[whiteape]

One more thing, would there be a chance I could just hook up my new Mobo and see if it will boot up if i change the BIOS settings to start with C:\, and if I did have it do that, would I need to uninstall ALL drivers on my computer?

[whiteape]

OK, I think I have found a solution that should work, as far as I'm concerned. Please take a look at this... http://www.tweakxp.com/article37174.aspx

[whiteape]

Ok, I have been looking into the mobo that I am planning on buying, everything is perfect, except, one thing... My current dell mobo uses a front panel I/O connector for the Power supply and things like that, as far as I know. And, the Mobo I'm planning on buying, has tons of SATA and one IDE and one FDD interface. Now, my question is, would the front panel I/O connectors be able to be adapted for SATA or some other thing, because I found out that the I/O connector is for all my front USB, and my power. Go figure, dell doing another thing to try and not let you upgrade. I gotta tell you , im starting to believe I am not going to be able to upgrade, and will just need to wait until I build a whole new computer,unless, there was a way to change how I turn on my computer.Dammit.. Cant wait to hear the reply's so I can get this straightened out. Heres a picture of my MOBO, and then the one that I want, well, an Image, can be found here...http://www.intel.com/products/i/motherb ... 5CO_lg.jpg

[ibleet]

I have a Dell XPS Gen2 that I am not upgrading for the exact same reasons that you have listed. It's more trouble than its worth. That is why I decided to sell it off and just build a new rig. My new rig is a huge upgrade and is gonna cost me around $1100. I should be able to get close to $500 for my old Dell, so I'm pretty happy. Good Luck!

[whiteape]

Well, I have pretty much decided and got it thru my head th at this wont work, but, I got another trick up my sleve. I will just buy a new case, with a better MOBO, then transfer my HD, RAM, CPU, and anything else I need to my new case and should be good to go. It is still more expensive than just buying the motherboard, but, Its a hell of a lot cheaper than building from scratch.

[stopthekilling77]

Well, I have pretty much decided and got it thru my head th at this wont work, but, I got another trick up my sleve. I will just buy a new case, with a better MOBO, then transfer my HD, RAM, CPU, and anything else I need to my new case and should be good to go. It is still more expensive than just buying the motherboard, but, Its a hell of a lot cheaper than building from scratch.

smart man! when youre ready for a "big" upgrade then you can spend the big bucks! good luck with the transfer!

[ibleet]

In your situation it just might work. In mine, it just wasn't worth it. I needed to upgrade everything so it was better to sell off the old Dell and build a new rig. I originally thought I would just trade out my motherboard for one with a PCI-E slot. Well then of course I had to upgrade my video card. I had to upgrade the cpu because it wasn't compatible with the motherboard. I had to upgrade the ram because that was also not compatible. Then of course the old Hard drive and optical drive were IDE and I wanted SATA. I also needed to upgrade the PSU because the old one was a 400w POS. None of my stuff matched up because it was just too old. And the few things that did match up would have created bottlenecks. All this and the Dell was only 2 years old!

Well anyway, Good luck with the transfer and make sure all your components are compatible.

[whiteape]

Yup, everything was going to be compatible, except that damn power button. Screw you Dell, you can lick me...