Hardware

Replace Motherboard

Evan Davies

Jul 11, 2009 • 2 min read

Replace a failed motherboard:

This scenario assumes that your existing motherboard has failed and that you cannot start the existing Windows installation on the hard disk.

To replace a failed motherboard with a new motherboard and to then reconfigure Windows to work with the new motherboard, do the following:

Turn off the computer.

Replace the existing motherboard with the new motherboard.

Insert your Windows CD in the CD-ROM drive or the DVD-ROM drive, and start the computer from the CD.

Do one of the following:

For Windows Server 2003:

When you are prompted To set up Windows now, press ENTER, press ENTER.

Setup looks for any previous installations of Windows Server 2003 on the hard disk and then displays a list of any previous installations that it finds.

Use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to repair, and then press R to select the To repair the selected Windows installation, press R option.

This will start the repair of your previous Windows Server 2003 installation.

For Windows XP:

When you are prompted To set up Windows now, press ENTER, press ENTER.

Setup looks for any previous installations of Windows XP on the hard disk and then displays a list of any previous installations that it finds.

Use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to repair, and then press R to select the To repair the selected Windows installation, press R option.

This will start the repair of your previous Windows XP installation.

For Windows 2000:

When you are prompted To set up Windows 2000 now, press ENTER, press ENTER.

Setup looks for any previous installations of Windows 2000 on the hard disk and then displays a list of any previous installations that it finds.

Use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to repair, and then press R to select the To repair the selected Windows 2000 installation, press R option.

This will start the repair of your previous Windows 2000 installation.

Follow the instructions on the screen, and allow Setup to complete the repair of the previous Windows Server 2003 installation, Windows XP installation, or Windows 2000 installation.

Setup installs the HAL, the IDE controller drivers, and any other drivers that the new motherboard must have.

After the repair is completed, reinstall any service packs or hotfixes that you had previously installed.

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 start devmgmt.msc

In Device Manager, enable Show Hidden Devices as before, and have a look in the various trees. You may be surprised at how much stuff is faded or ghosted out. Delete everything you recognize as a hardware device which is either faded or ghosted out, but leave USB devices alone (see note). Don’t touch anything under “Non-Plug and Play Devices.” There are also some media drivers in “Sound, video and game controllers” that you should leave alone in there. Be very sure that all you’re removing is an actual ghosted hardware device, that you either have or have had, and not a Windows internal driver. The same applies to System Devices, though these are usually branded, so very easy to tell apart.