Upgrade CPU... will it hose my Windows XP?

mtbcyclist

Did not know where to ask this but I figured this would be a good place. I have a home built PC in which I though about upgrading the processor. Nothing else in the machine would change. Would it hose Windows XP Pro?

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks!

sthomas

It shouldn't, but it is always good to have a backup of your data anyway. So backup before you upgrade your processor.

mtbcyclist

Thats what I figured, and yes I plan on backing up my data if I go though with this. I wonder if very many folks have tried this and what type of success they have had.

blargoe

It shouldn't matter as long as your mobo supports it, but you should be sure to plan for failure. If your new CPU has hyperthreading or Dual Cores and the old one does not, there may be something you have to do to tell windows that you're using multiple processors but I'm not sure.

theseman

Pretty much the worst thing that could happen is it won't boot, but a repair install would fix that. (Since a hardware upgrade was done the it could mess up the HAL). I don't think just a CPU would do this unless it was radically different. (maybe single vs dual core)

Smallguy

you will probably need ot do an inpolace upgrade because the HAL will change drastically.

I've experience this alot when people swap major components

blargoe

You might have to reactivate XP as well

JDMurray

Upgrading a CPU costs (I believe) three points in the Windows XP activation count. If you've made no other significant changes to the hardware (e.g., changed hard drive, added memory, replaced NIC) then you won't need to reactivate for a CPU upgrade. But honestly, even if you do need to reactivate, it's no big deal in needing to reactivate a legal copy of XP multiple times.

Plantwiz

jdmurray wrote:

Upgrading a CPU costs (I believe) three points in the Windows XP activation count. If you've made no other significant changes to the hardware (e.g., changed hard drive, added memory, replaced NIC) then you won't need to reactivate for a CPU upgrade. But honestly, even if you do need to reactivate, it's no big deal in needing to reactivate a legal copy of XP multiple times.

I was thinking 2, but honestly your the first person I've heard mention it since Oct 25, 2001 the TS2 event I attended. I've mentioned it a few times on the web and it seemed like most people didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Is their point system still in place?

Also, I seem to recall there being a 120-day period and the values reset to zero allowing for a 'normal' upgrade of hardware without reactivating.

Anyway....NICs and modems dinged the points in the 5-7 range.

JDMurray

Microsoft has released no details of the Windows XP activation scheme, but I've seen an analysis of its point system based on experimentation posted on the Web along with the wpa.dbl hack to reset the (re)activation count. Software licensing protection products also uses this type of count to keep track of changes in a computer in an attempt to determine if the software has been illicitly copied to a different computer. Attributes such as hard disk drive ID, BIOS serial number, Windows installation GUID, NIC MAC address, CPU type/speed, memory size, and video card type are all factors that are possibly considered.

sprkymrk

Smallguy wrote:

you will probably need ot do an inpolace upgrade because the HAL will change drastically.

I've experience this alot when people swap major components

This got me to researching a little on HAL's, because I had never heard this about the HAL changing when upgrading components in a computer. In this particular case I don't think mtbcyclist has to worry about it, nor would you necessarily have to reinstall Windows even if it did.

To view your current HAL, go to Device Manager and expand the Computer device. Mine is currently "ACPI Uniprocessor PC". Possible HALs include:

• ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Applies to a multiple-processor ACPI computer.
• ACPI Uniprocessor PC
Applies to an ACPI multiple-processor board but with a single processor installed.
• Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC
Applies to a single processor motherboard with single processor.
• Compaq SystemPro Multiprocessor or 100% Compatible
Applies to a Compaq SystemPro computer.
• MPS Uniprocessor PC
Applies to non-ACPI computers dual processor motherboard with a single processor installed.
• MPS Multiprocessor PC
Applies to non-ACPI computers with a dual processor running.
• Standard PC
Applies to any Standard PC, non-ACPI, or non-MPS. The CPU may be a 386, a 486, a Pentium, a Pentium II, or a Pentium III.
• Standard PC with C-Step i486
• Other

So as long as he is not upgrading from a non-ACPI board to an ACPI board, or from a single CPU to dual CPU, or adding a CPU to a dual CPU system that was only running a single CPU, etc. then just upgrading the CPU to a faster one that the current system supports shouldn't have any effect.

Additionally, I found that if someone was running a W2K system and upgraded to WXP, the HAL is preserved. But if you do an in-place upgrade or reinstall of XP, it determines the correct HAL and installs it. This is probably what Smallguy was referring to. I was not aware of this before I read this thread.

Finally, a couple of interesting notes on forcing a HAL change. During the installation of either XP or W2K, when the message prompts you to press F6 to install SCSI drivers, press F5 instead. You will then be presented with a list of HALs to install. Or you can press F7 to autodetect a change in the HAL. If you are only upgrading from a Standard PC HAL to a MPS Multiprocessor PC HAL you can just use the "Update Drivers" feature within Device Manager.

I compiled this information from the following links:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237556
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299340
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298898

JDMurray

Software licensing and protection software, such as the Windows XP Activation mechanism, really has nothing to do with the HAL. License activation is a separate mechanism which keeps track of whatever it needs to in order to determine if software has been illegally copied or "cracked." Therefore, whether the HAL changes radically or not at all, the licensing mechanism determines for itself what it considers to be "change," and does not rely on the HAL to make this determination for it.

For example, upgrading your Pentium 4 CPU from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz may result in no change to the HAL, but it may be considered a big change to a software licensing mechanism. And upgrading your video card does result in a change in the HAL, but may be of no concern for a software licensing mechanism. One mechanism does not rely on the judgment of the other.

sprkymrk

jdmurray wrote:

Software licensing and protection software, such as the Windows XP Activation mechanism, really has nothing to do with the HAL.

I wasn't trying to imply that it did. There were a couple of answers to the OP's question:

mtbcyclist wrote:

Would it hose Windows XP Pro?

One answer was that a reinstall may be required due to a HAL change.

blargoe wrote:

If your new CPU has hyperthreading or Dual Cores and the old one does not, there may be something you have to do to tell windows that you're using multiple processors but I'm not sure.

theseman wrote:

Since a hardware upgrade was done the it could mess up the HAL

smallguy wrote:

you will probably need ot do an inpolace upgrade because the HAL will change drastically.

I had never heard of a component upgrade affecting the HAL so I checked it out and posted my findings.

The second answer to the OP, unrelated to the HAL, was that he may have to reactivate XP. I wasn't addressing that.

Hope that clears it up.