Need advice on an XP repair install

Megadeth4168

This issue has been resolved. I ended up waiting and using their CD. Thanky ou all for the advice.

I have a clietns machine that I am working on... I determined that the motherboard is shot and they need a new one.... So I went a got a new motherboard and put it in... Of course now it keeps coming up to the selection window to select Safe mode, Normal startup ect... Anything I choose starts to load up part way then resets the machine...

I thought that might happen, I knew I might need to do a repair install on windows after putting in a new MB.... Unfortunately I wasnt thinking about it 100% and I am stuck with a machine that has XP home on it and all I have to work with is XP Pro CDs at my house.

Is there anything I can do now or do I just have to wait until I can get the CDs from the client that came with their computer?

Thanks[/b]

Silver Bullet

When you replaced the motherboard, did you replace it with the same type/model that was in it to begin with?

What brand is the PC?

Megadeth4168

Unfortunately the pc is an e-Machines.

No, the motherboard isnt the same... I've done this on several occasions and have always needed to do a repair install on Windows. This time around I don't have a Windows XP Home Cd at my disposal.

All I have is an XP Pro CD and the new motherboard resource cd.

Plantwiz

I've not seen a XP Pro disk prove to be a substitute for an XP HOME or vice-versa.

Had you removed all the devices in device manager before powering down, and let them refind with the new board, you may have been ok.

Otherwise, you might just as well wait to get the clients disks before proceeding.

Long ago, I stopped taking in systems unless all the original disks were present otherwise I couldn't guarantee results. Even if I didn't need the disk, the client is required to provide all system, application and driver disks that they want to remain on their box when it is returned.

ToBeOrNotToBe

Alright mate, here how it goes:
1 - in the case that you wanna keep XP home on your machine, then cool, just set the BIOS to boot from CD and then go with the installation without doing the format thingy (Keep File System Intact).

2 - in the case that you wanna install XP Pro, just do the same steps as above, and you should be just fine, but remember, don't format your drive.

for the device management, if your devices are suppported by the OS then great, else just look for the Drivers CD, but i have to recommend the www.driverguide.com toolkit, it's great and i know it can save you hours and hours of headache.

hope that helps.

Silver Bullet

Unless the hard drive has a recovery partition on it then you will need the CD's from the user. Not familiar with E-Machine enough to tell you if they create a recovery partition or not on their systems.

ebkrantz

I have a gateway, which bought emachnies or vice versa, and it has a recovery partition on it, that could be an option if there is no reovery partiton you will need the home disk

Megadeth4168

I had to replace the MB because the old one was fried and I couldnt even boot the machine. This made it so I couldnt get into device manager to make my life easier unfortunately.

I did not however think about a recovery partition... I will see if one exsists on this machine... I know someone them require certain keys to be pressed at POST to go into the partition. Usually F11 I think...

Anyway, if that doesnt work then I guess the client will just have to wait.

Thanks for the help