Changing motherboard without reinstalling Windows XP?

[Scott]

Does anyone know how to change a motherboard without
having to reinstall Windows XP Professional with SP1? You
used to be able to do it with Windows 98 by just opening
the registry editor and deleting the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/enum dir then shutdown, replace the
motherboard and power up. Windows 98 would find everything
it needs for the new motherboard. Pretty simple!! But now
I have upgraded to Windows XP, not so simple... Now the
registry has a subdirectory called SYSTEM and the enum dir
is under three subdirectories called ControlSet001,
ControlSet002, and CurrentControlSet. Why are there three
directories now and what else would I have to do???
Reinstalling WindowsXP is not an option for me right now,
but I really need to upgrade my motherboard and CPU. Any
help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Pete Baker]

Hi Scott

XP configures itself to suit the hardware on
installation.

If you have a retail XP install CD -

Many users, myself included, prefer to do a clean install after major
changes as you describe.

The alternative, and equally valid option, is the repair install (also known
as an In-Place Upgrade)

See following Knowledge Base article for details.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q315341&ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

After doing this you may need to re-activate your installation of XP. If it
has been more than 120 days since you last re-activated you should be able
to activate over the internet, otherwise it will require a short phonecall.

After the repair install you will need to re-install any XP service packs
and updates, but you will not need to re-install any applications.

Hope that helps
Pete
--------------------


"Scott" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone know how to change a motherboard without
> having to reinstall Windows XP Professional with SP1? You
> used to be able to do it with Windows 98 by just opening
> the registry editor and deleting the
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/enum dir then shutdown, replace the
> motherboard and power up. Windows 98 would find everything
> it needs for the new motherboard. Pretty simple!! But now
> I have upgraded to Windows XP, not so simple... Now the
> registry has a subdirectory called SYSTEM and the enum dir
> is under three subdirectories called ControlSet001,
> ControlSet002, and CurrentControlSet. Why are there three
> directories now and what else would I have to do???
> Reinstalling WindowsXP is not an option for me right now,
> but I really need to upgrade my motherboard and CPU. Any
> help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks