upgrade motherboard

I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis, all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks

Hi Seth:

Installing a new motherboard is a major, major upgrade. You have to remove
just about everything inside the case just to get to the old motherboard.
Then when you buy a new motherboard, you must make sure your old power
supply is compatible with the new motherboard, and that the new motherboard
will fit inside your case (including lining up with the case mounting
holes). Also, make sure that the PS/2, USB, and other ports built into your
new motherboard will line up with slots in your case. Then you must purchase
compatible RAM chips, and most likely you will need a new CPU that will work
with your new motherboard, along with a matching CPU heatsink/fan combo.

After the new motherboard is installed, you must make sure all jumpers on it
(if any) are set properly. Then after installing everything else, you must
have your drivers (old and new) ready to install.

Yes, you will need to get into the BIOS for your new motherboard and set
everything to match your configuration (before booting to Windows).

IMO your best bet when installing a new motherboard is to do an entirely
clean install of the operating system. That means deleting your existing HD
partition, creating a new one, formatting the HD, and then installing the
operating system. Retaining old settings left over from your previous setup
can lead to lots of headaches. If you do this, all data will be lost, so
back up anything important to some device that will not be affected by the
upgrade.

I suggest that you do a cost comparison before buying anything. You may find
that buying a new computer (or at least a bare-bones system) is less
expensive than an upgrade.

For one "How to" link, go to
http://www.a1-electronics.net/Intel_...allguide.shtml

Hope this helps.

"seth" wrote in message
...
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis, all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks

In my opinion, installing a new motherboard with Windows
98 is no big deal.

I have done it several times with no problems.

You'll probably have to buy a new processor as well,
unless you buy a second-hand motherboard from eBay.

The new motherboard will come with a nanual that tells you
how to set the jumpers and install the hardware. You can
also download one from the manufacturer's site.

The new board will probably have a different chipset than
the old one.

Say the old one has a VIA chipset and the new one has an
Intel chipset.

You would install the RAM and processor on the
motherboard, install the motherboard in the case, attach
the hard drive, fit the video card, and attach the power
lead from the power supply unit and from the switch on the
front of the case. The manual will have the details and
illustrations.

Then boot up the computer, and press the F8 key to bring
up the boot menu. Choose to boot in Safe mode, enter the
Device Manager (right-click My Computer = Properties) and
delete the VIA devices.

Windows 98 will then detect new hardware and install the
Intel chipset drivers it has, and ask you for the driver
CD if it doesn't have the drivers, or will install its
standard drivers, which you can then update.

If Windows loads all the way, check in the Device Manager
to make sure that all of the devices are working, and boot
into Safe mode to make sure no duplicate devices are in
the Device Manager, where they show up.

See this page on how to build a PC:

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Build.htm

Eric,
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/
http://www.sharedbirthday.co.uk/

-----Original Message-----
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the
motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis, all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks
.

One pitfall leftout in the suggestions is how a different motherboard's bios
may interpret your current hard drive in a different manner. The results
can vary from a minor burp at intial bootup, to total loss of data as its
inaccessible.
"seth" wrote in message
...
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis, all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks

"seth" wrote in message
...
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis, all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks
****************
Suggest you go to PCWorld.com, search for their articles on Motherboard
upgrades, so you can see what you'll be getting yourself into....upgrading
to a new MB JUST to add more RAM may not be the way to go.......how many
slots are there now? Amount of ram in each board? type of Ram ?
Maybe you only need to increase the size of the memory cards, NOT the # of
them...

EdK

For all the people that have replied to this post, here is
the story.

I have a dell computer and the motherboard has died on me.
I know this because I have already talked to Dell Support.
The only thing I can do is get a new motherboard.

What I originally wanted to do was use the pieces from the
broken Dell computer and put them in my other Dell
computer, mainly just the RAM; hence, why I was looking
into upgrading the motherboard to utilize the RAM. But, I
am scrapping that idea because it would void the warranty
that is good for another year.

So what I need to do now is find a motherboard that fits
the broken Dell computer case and supports all the
hardware that came with that computer. What do you think
my odds are of finding that particular motherboard?

Second, I have taken the hard drive out of the broken Dell
and placed it as a slave drive in another computer because
I wanted to know if the hard drive was still working.
Oddly enough the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS but
not in Windows.

Someone suggested that I need to partition and format the
hard drive before Windows will recognize it, but this is
not a new hard drive out of the box. I am reluctant to
format the hard drive because I don't want to lose the OS
installed on it (XP Home).

However, if I get a new motherboard that fits my needs,
the OS installed on this HD may not be helpful anyway.

Basically, I want to get the broken Dell up and running
again. Which, from what I can gather I would need a new
motherboard and possibly a new HD.

Sorry if its hard to follow, but let me know if any other
information would be helpful
-----Original Message-----

"seth" wrote in
message
...
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the
motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis,
all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading
the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks
****************
Suggest you go to PCWorld.com, search for their articles
on Motherboard
upgrades, so you can see what you'll be getting yourself
into....upgrading
to a new MB JUST to add more RAM may not be the way to
go.......how many
slots are there now? Amount of ram in each board? type of
Ram ?
Maybe you only need to increase the size of the memory
cards, NOT the # of
them...

EdK


.

How does Dell know the motherboard is bad? Did they examine it? If they told
you it was bad based on your description of the problem over the telephone,
there could easily be a simple misunderstanding.

"seth" wrote in message
...
For all the people that have replied to this post, here is
the story.

I have a dell computer and the motherboard has died on me.
I know this because I have already talked to Dell Support.
The only thing I can do is get a new motherboard.

What I originally wanted to do was use the pieces from the
broken Dell computer and put them in my other Dell
computer, mainly just the RAM; hence, why I was looking
into upgrading the motherboard to utilize the RAM. But, I
am scrapping that idea because it would void the warranty
that is good for another year.

So what I need to do now is find a motherboard that fits
the broken Dell computer case and supports all the
hardware that came with that computer. What do you think
my odds are of finding that particular motherboard?

Second, I have taken the hard drive out of the broken Dell
and placed it as a slave drive in another computer because
I wanted to know if the hard drive was still working.
Oddly enough the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS but
not in Windows.

Someone suggested that I need to partition and format the
hard drive before Windows will recognize it, but this is
not a new hard drive out of the box. I am reluctant to
format the hard drive because I don't want to lose the OS
installed on it (XP Home).

However, if I get a new motherboard that fits my needs,
the OS installed on this HD may not be helpful anyway.

Basically, I want to get the broken Dell up and running
again. Which, from what I can gather I would need a new
motherboard and possibly a new HD.

Sorry if its hard to follow, but let me know if any other
information would be helpful
-----Original Message-----

"seth" wrote in
message
...
I have a computer and I want to upgrade the motherboard.

I want to keep the same IDE devices and PCI cards and
CD/DVD drives. I primarily want to upgrade the
motherboard
to be able to add more RAM. Right now, my DIMM slots are
all taken up.

If I am lucky enough to find a motherboard that can
support my hardware and fits in the computer chassis,
all
I have to do is insert the new motherboard, attach all
devices to motherboard and then start the computer, is
that right?

Do I have to do anything to the BIOS before I let the
coputer load Windows?

Any precautions, suggestions or articles on upgrading
the
motherboard are welcome.

Thanks
****************
Suggest you go to PCWorld.com, search for their articles
on Motherboard
upgrades, so you can see what you'll be getting yourself
into....upgrading
to a new MB JUST to add more RAM may not be the way to
go.......how many
slots are there now? Amount of ram in each board? type of
Ram ?
Maybe you only need to increase the size of the memory
cards, NOT the # of
them...

EdK


.