Change Mainboard Without Reinstalling Windows XP

Often times, when moving the hard drive containing an existing Windows XP to a new mainboard, we need to reinstall afresh all the OS files. The typical mainboard-replace-no-reinstall-Windows scenario in the good ol' days of Win9x has gone.

This is due the much better control of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) in Windows XP or Windows 2000.

However, the following steps will try to cheat the HAL and let us keep all the Windows stuff without the painful step-by-step reinstall.

This will only work with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows 2000 only (as of this writing).

This to get ready before migrating the old hard drive to the new mainboard.

1. Download the essential files from www.hkpeace.com. The files are zipped into win2khw.zip.
2. Unzip the files. Copy the 4 SYS files (ATAPI, INTELIDE, PCIIDE, PCIIDEX) to %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS, where %WINDIR% is normally C:\WINDOWS.
3. Copy the MERGEIDE.REG file to the C:\.

In the event that the original mainboard is dead or malfunction, remove the hard drive to another working system as a secondary hard drive or use a boot CD such as Knoppix or BartPE CD and put those vital files into the hard drive. However, you'd need to determine (wild guess) the %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS directory if you are not familiar with the original Windows installation directory.

The next step is to move the hard drive to the new mainboard. Make sure the keyboard is working. You can check this out by plugging the keyboard into the mainboard without the hard drive. Then try going into the BIOS setting to see if the keyboard responds.

1. Boot up the PC.
2. Press F8 continuously to make sure you can see the Windows Advanced Options Menu screen. This is very serious because if you fail to get into the Safe Mode, your original Windows installation is done for if it boot normally into Windows and ends up in BSOD. It would not help even if you should put the hard drive back to the old mainboard, once the BSOD occurs.
3. Select Safe Mode and boot into Windows.
4. Once inside, double-click the MERGEIDE.REG file located in C:\.
5. If new hardware detection starts, let it finish. Make sure all detections are completed. Do not boot even if you are asked to reboot.
6. If no more new hardware is detected, manually restart the PC in normal mode.
   
7. Once again, if the new hardware detection is going on, let it be.
8. Install the drivers for the new mainboard.