I'm going to hire a local technician to upgrade the hardware in my
system, but I REFUSE to reinstall my OS again (I just did two months
ago).

Please provide a synthesis, synopsis, summary, analysis or overview
(simply locating the pages is not sufficient) of articles, tutorials,
how-tos or general advice on how he can upgrade my motherboard, CPU,
video card and sound card without requiring an OS reinstall.

Hint: I've heard that using a parallel install to delete certain
hardware-related keys in the registry of the main OS causes WinXP Pro
(my OS) to re-detect the hardware instead of just creating
blue-screens from trying to run new hardware with old drivers.

---

Request for Question Clarification by nishka-ga on 26 Jan 2003 12:48 PST

May I ask why you are against an OS reinstall?  Do you have a large
amount of software you do not want to reinstall after the upgrade?  I 
can come up with some solutions that really equal the best of both
worlds even though it requires an initial OS installation.

---

Clarification of Question by donphiltrodt-ga on 26 Jan 2003 14:26 PST

Excellent distinction you're making.

My objection to OS reinstall is, as you suggested, because of the
software reinstall.

I have no objection to reinstalling WinXP Pro **IF** my software,
preferences, drive mappings, shortcuts, desktop, startup, etc, etc can
be replicated **EN MASSE**... not by me spending yet another two weeks
is extreme low productivity just because my workstation isn't set up
how I need it to be.

The bottomline is that I want my EXISTING workstation system to be
faster... not "I want to spend my time manually recreating my
workstation on a faster computer."  Ugh.

<rant> It bugs me to no end that tech support reps and many computer
technicians treat a user's work environment as disposable.  This
google-answers post is my attempt to add some technical merit to my
personal annoyance. </rant>

Thank you for the excellent question.

---

Request for Question Clarification by nishka-ga on 26 Jan 2003 18:19 PST

Thanks for answering my clarification request.  I have one additional
question for you to see if my solution is going to work:

You mentioned that this system is going to be an 'upgrade' of your
existing machine.  Is it possible to get this new iteration running at
the same time as the current machine?

---

Clarification of Question by donphiltrodt-ga on 27 Jan 2003 03:24 PST

>>Is it possible to get this new iteration 
>>running at the same time as the current machine?

What you're describing seems more like "migrating to a faster machine"
than "upgrading".

Here's what I'm planning on buying...

Case with big powersupply
Main board
Addl memory (I currently have 1 256MB stick of PC133 memory)
CPU 2Ghz-ish
HD (ATA, 120GB ish for data)

Current system's boot/windows/applications drive is LVD, via Adaptec
2940U2W.

I had planned on just upgrading my existing system.  But if the
current flavor of IDE performs within, say, 10% of SCSI LVD, I have no
objections to taking the "migration" route (from existing PC to new,
faster PC).  (This would mean using a partition of the big IDE HD as
the boot drive).

Furthermore, if migrating to a new PC (instead of upgrading existing
PC) would make for a less troubleprone process, I'm very much in favor
of having both systems up and running simultaneously.

In fact, my downtime may be decreased by doing a migration
(PC-to-PC)rather than an upgrade (one PC).

If nec, both PCs can have working ethernet.

However, if migration from PC-to-PC is prone to more hassle than a
same-boot-drive upgrade, I can be happy keeping my system drive on my
2940.

(I'd actually prefer to get rid of the extra SCSI complexity.  Perhaps
you can offer some advice on getting rid of SCSI in favor of
onboard-IDE.  I'm not a speed freak: I like things simple and
working.)

Because of the a) extra complexity of migrating vs upgrading and b)
probably converting a scsi boot system to an IDE and c) your useful
questions, I'm raising the rate of the question.

Thank you.

Hello again donphildrodt!

Thanks for the clarifications to your question.  I think after reading
all of your information I can provide you with a solution that will do
what you're looking for with the least amount of headaches and hassle.
 Using this scenario, your new machine will copy every file and
application over from the old machine.  The process should only take
an hour or two depending on the amount of data to be transferred. 
I've employed this strategy a number of times, and was even able to
upgrade a 5 year old Windows98 machine to XP.

Since you're willing to work with a 'migration' strategy, there is a
piece of software ($30 downloadable) that will accomplish exactly what
we've been talking about.   The software is called 'Alohabob,' and
despite its silly name it is extremely powerful migration software. 
You can download it at:

http://www.alohabob.com/

Note that Windows XP has a 'file and settings transfer wizard,' but it
will not install the applications for you.  It only migrates documents
and application settings.

1.  Unless you're looking to change the directories of your software
and documents, the PC Relocator personal edition ($30) will accomplish
our mission.

2.  Next you'll want to get the old machine up and running and on the
network.  Install the PC Relocator software on the old machine, and
set it to 'Source PC.'  Make sure there are no other applications
loaded.  Also be sure to write down the old PC's IP address.  While
this is going (it needs to survey your hard disk) you can get the new
machine up and running.

3.  Install WindowsXP Professional and all service packs on the new
machine, and configure your hardware.  Although you were trying to
avoid this step, in either situation you would have to reconfigure
hardware and drivers.  This process is always much easier on a fresh
install than it is on an upgrade installation.

4.  Connect the new machine to the network, and install PC Relocator
on it.

5.  Install the PC Relocator  on the new machine, and select
'destination PC.'

6.  Point the PC Relocator software to the source machine's IP address
and the process will begin.

After it's done, the new machine will inherit everything the old
machine had.  Applications, documents, settings, you name it.  I've
always been impressed with how well it works.

Note that the personal edition of the software will maintain the same
directory structure as the old machine.  So you'll want to partition
the drives on the new machine similar to how they are configured on
the old one.  The 'ultra' edition will allow you to select specific
destination directories.

Alohabob has always done the trick for me, but there are a few other
competing packages out there.  I went to PC Magazine's website, and
did a search for competing products.  They have an in-depth review of
various packages here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,79798,00.asp

Here are sites for the competing packages:

Detto Intellimover ($40) : http://www.detto.com 

PC Sync 3 ($70): http://www.laplink.com/products/pcsync/overview.asp

PC Upgrade Commander ($40):  www.v-com.com 

Migration software has really come along in the last few years, and is
a VERY viable solution to your problem.  Even better, the IDE to SCSI
conversion won't be a problem, since it's merely transferring the
applications, their registry settings, and documents over to the new
machine and OS.  You can also use this software to upgrade any legacy
machines you may have to newer hardware and operating systems.

Please feel free to ask for clarification if you need further
information!

-NishkaGA

---

Request for Answer Clarification by donphiltrodt-ga on 27 Jan 2003 17:21 PST

1) Please offer a very brief opinion (no research or URLs needed)
about the price/performance difference between SCSI LVD and the
current flavor of IDE/ATA technology.

2) Since my original question still stands (note the increase in scope
and question price), please offer a synopsis of tactics for the
"upgrade" route, not just the useful product recommendation you've
offered for the migration route.

---

Clarification of Answer by nishka-ga on 27 Jan 2003 19:03 PST

1.  This really depends on the drives used..  My experience (combined
with what some folks are talking about on Google groups) shows there's
a marginal advantage to LVD SCSI over the latest iteration of ATA 100
IDE drives.  There’s a new standard called Serial ATA that will likely
replace the current IDE standard, but initial tests at
tomshardware.com show that they still have some room to grow before
knocking out the current breed.

My personal feeling is that the two standards will run neck and neck
as time progresses, with one always slightly faster than the other
(and yes, they will trade spaces).  Since the SCSI products are
typically used in the high-end server/workstation environment (with
the IDE/ATA drives being more consumer oriented), perhaps you will
find better stability and support by going the SCSI route.  I’ve gone
with both directions in my medium-sized company, and I’ve had good
luck with both configurations as far as reliability, performance, and
stability are concerned.

2.  The upgrade path can work.  I've done this before with NT
operating systems (the last one being on a Win2k Pro system).  I do
recommend, however, doing a FULL AND COMPLETE BIT FOR BIT backup of
the drive using a product like Symantec's Ghost or PowerQuest's Drive
Copy.  Ideally, you’d be copying the existing hard drive to the new
hard disk.  Both Ghost and Drive Copy will make the migration from IDE
to SCSI.  Please note that I have never tried booting a SCSI disk with
a ghosted IDE partition.  Windows may or may not work under this
scenario, since the SCSI drivers might not be in place.

Here are the steps I would take after the Ghosting is complete:

1.  Take the old hard drive and set it aside (put armed guards around
it if necessary :)    ).  If things go bad you'll have the original to
boot from on the old machine and we can go the migration route.  I'd
also suggest uninstalling all non-essential hardware that you plan on
migrating to the new machine.  The best solution is to boot the old
machine off the new drive with those pieces of hardware removed.  This
will make the process slightly less difficult.  This is not required,
but it could eliminate some problems later.

2.  Install the newly ghosted drive and all hardware on the new
machine.  Also be sure to have all of your driver discs ready for any
existing hardware you're migrating. DO NOT RELY ON YOUR NETWORK CARD
WORKING WHEN YOU FIRST BOOT!   Make sure you have all of those drivers
on floppies or CD’s before you move ahead.  More often than not
Windows will assume you're installing new hardware even though it was
attached to the old motherboard, so it’s going to ask for a lot of
driver software.

3.  After booting Windows you'll begin the long and arduous task of
reinstalling drivers for each piece of hardware (and I mean EACH).  It
will likely reinstall the PCI drivers, USB hardware, parallel and COM
ports, and anything else attached to the machine.  Most of the
motherboard peripherals (IDE, USB, Parallel, etc) Windows should pick
up from the Windows XP CD-ROM.  My experience has been that
motherboards with Intel chipsets tend to be easier to work with under
this scenario, although most boards should come with the drivers you
need to get everything working.

4.  After the driver installation (it will likely have you reboot a
number of times) you should be back to where you were before.  The
only problems I can foresee beyond this point are drive letters.  If
you're adding more partitions on the new system, be mindful of what
your CD-ROM drive letters were on the previous machine.  Some software
will default to the drive letter it was initially installed on, so be
sure to letter your partitions are lettered accordingly.

With a little bit of luck that should be all you’ll need to do.  It’s
a very scary process, and you could very well invest a few hours into
this project and have it not work.

If my list above doesn’t work, your last option is to try an ‘upgrade’
installation of Windows XP.  There are two ways to accomplish this
depending on how far along your system can boot:

1.  If you're using the full or a retail version of Windows XP and can
boot into Windows, run the setup installation off the CD-ROM.  This
will essentially 'upgrade' your current installation without changing
your applications and documents.

2.  If you're unable to boot into XP, then you can attempt the repair
installation.  Again, this requires a full or retail version of XP to
work.  Here are the steps:

A.  Under this scenario you'll need to insert the XP CD at bootup. 
You'll be 'welcomed to setup,' at which point you'll hit enter.  You
do not want to repair with the recovery console here.

B.  After the license screen the setup program will search for a
previous or existing version of XP.  It should then present you with
the version of XP you already have on the hard disk.  You'll then
press the 'R' key to repair it.  IF IT DOESN'T SHOW UP ON THE LIST,
MOVING FORWARD FROM THIS POINT WILL ERASE YOUR EXISTING WINDOWS
INSTALLATION, REQUIRING YOU TO REINSTALL EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH!

The bottom line is that taking the upgrade scenario can work, but the
potential success of the project is not as high as the migration
option.  The results are mixed and vary with the type of hardware you
currently have and are upgrading to.  In my experience, these kinds of
upgrades have worked most of the time, but I usually end up
reinstalling the OS at some point down the road.  If you do choose to
go this route, I can't stress enough the importance of running this
upgrade installation from the newly ghosted drive.  If something goes
wrong you still have the old drive to re-ghost or try the migration
strategy.

My recomendation is to still go down the migration path.  Since you're
replacing most of your hardware, it is the least painful option
available to you and it will work on the first shot :).

Please feel free to ask me for additional clarification if you're
still having questions.

Thanks!

-Nishka

---

Request for Answer Clarification by donphiltrodt-ga on 30 Jan 2003 00:07 PST

I could grossly summarize your two answers as...

1) Buy a new machine and buy special software

OR

2) a) Have drivers ready, b) just boot your existing install on new
hardware,  c) hope that Windows (and, as a backup, MS's repair
routine) is smart enough to fix it, d) plan on reinstalling later
anyway.

My problem is that your upgrade answer is not a whole lot more than
standard practice.  I don't think you really offered anything new here
beyond what most hardware techs know.

Please note the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of my original question.  Now,
note the overall direction your answer took.  Your answer is very
thorough and well-written.  But unfortunately, I feel you spent your
time writing your own  upgrade tactics (which are simply 100% standard
practice for hardware techs) instead researching the web for others.

As glad as I am to learn your recommendation for migration software,
it's not what I asked for (though I did pay for it).  The question
asked for upgrade research.  And the upgrade info you've provided is
not research but is basic common knowledge.

Perhaps there was semantic confusion.  I wanted (note parens)...

a (synthesis, synopsis, summary, analysis or overview) of (articles,
tutorials,
how-tos or general advice)

... whereas you provided option b here...

a [option a](synthesis, synopsis, summary, analysis or overview) of
(articles, tutorials,
how-tos) or [option b](general advice)

---

Clarification of Answer by nishka-ga on 30 Jan 2003 05:40 PST

Donphiltrodt,

Unfortunately the two solutions I have provided are the only two ways
for this to work.  There is no 'magic' upgrade path that will deviate
from these two options, it's simply the only methods you can employ to
accomplish your task. You've asked for the expertise of an expert,
which I have provided.

I am sorry you are not satisfied with the information I have provided
for you.  You are more than welcome to request a refund from Google
Answers if this answer has not met your expectations.

Nishka-GA

Question: 148657

Hi.

I'm not sure what the best way to handle this situation is.  What you
like me to do?

I'm not willing to pay $25 for the information provided because,
ultimately, the question wasn't answered.  However, the researcher did
provide some value to me, but certainly not a) $25 bucks worth and b)
certainly not what I asked for.

I clearly explained why his answer was unacceptable in my final
request clarification.  He responded with two particularly
unacceptable assertions

1) "You've asked for the expertise of an expert, which I have
provided."

(No, I asked for web research!)

2) "..it's simply the only methods you can employ to accomplish your
task."

(Isn't web research supposed to find new ways to do things?  He didn't
even *try* to search for my answer.)

I'm willing to pay him $12 or less for the answer.  (Is it possible
to, say, a) tip him $12, b) reject the answer, c) repost the
question?)  If this isn't possible, I'll unfortunately require a
repost of the question.


P.S.  Background info: The only refund I've ever requested was for
question #107375.  The google editors *refused* my request.  I'd like
you to know that, since then, I've confirmed that the answer was
indeed incorrect.  The answer that you refused a refund for was
technically incorrect and does not solve the problem.  Please don't
repeat this mistake.

As a computer technician (sometimes) it bugs me that some Microsoft
operating systems are so unresiliant to hardware upgrades. I had to
totally reinstall my computer recently as I was absolutely unable to
get my Windows 2000 install to be able to boot with a new motherboard
and CPU. Even in safe mode and VGA mode it was unworkable, as it could
not communicate with the mouse or keyboard.

One thing I have managed with a little sucesss in the past, however,
is to build a new system, and put in the old harddrive with working
installation on it. While it generally will not work properly or at
all in the new system, what I have been able to do it boot from
Windows install CD and do an 'upgrade' install over the top of the old
system. This detects the new hardware and configures itself for that,
but also migrates setting and programs from the old installation.

I am not sure how practical that will be in your situation but it
looks like Nishka (which, oddly is my cat's name) is on the case, so
hopefully you'll get out of this unscathed :)

It might be worth noting that I have been able to put a
Linux-installed drive in a entirely different computer and have it
boot and work with very few complaints, and no major loss of
functionality. I like that. :)

Regards, 
sycophant-ga

I can understand your frustration. However, I don't see that you are
going to have a particularly diffcult time (I cannot gurantee this).
Go into device manager and uninstall the drivers for your devices
prior to shutdown. Put the disk into the new box and boot up. If you
are lucky, Windows will automatically update if the drivers are in
it's built in database. If not - get the model numbers of all the
devices you are replacing and download them to the desktop beforehand.

Best practice would be to boot the system with the old video card and
hard drive on the new board but NOTHING else and see what happens - if
it doesnt throw a tantrum - shut down and start installing the new
cards, one by one and updating the drivers as you go along.

If however, you are aiming to update the hard drive - then you need a
software ghosting package like Symantec GHOST that will mirror your
existing image to the new disk, which you can then boot from normally.

If the board causes you problems - I guess you are gonna have to
reinstall, but there are utils within windows that can save all yr
user specific data eg favourites, mappings, shortcuts etc but you are
still going to have to install the OS and applications manually. I
think for future reference you are someone that would definately
benefit from an application like ghost. It will allow you to create a
new installation replete with all apps that you use as a backup image
ready to go in case of failure. You can cut the image to CD even or
have on a spare disk.

Major players use it to re build a workstation in about 15 minutes
flat.



www.symantec.com

http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?Catalog=LCID%3D2057%26CDID%3DEN-US-KB%26PRODLISTSRC%3DON&Product=&KeywordType=ALL&Titles=false&numDays=&maxResults=25&withinResults=false&Queryl=files+and+settings+transfer+wizard&Query=files+and+settings+transfer+wizard&QuerySource=gsfxSearch_Query

You might want to try running MSCONFIG first and choosing to set to a
diagnostic startup as well. Then put in the new box and away you go.

ciscobiz-ga:
What you're suggesting will work just fine if you're using Windows
95/98/ME, but it's very doubtful that it'll work at all on any NT
based OS. I've tried this on 2k and XP and both will throw a fit if
you try and change the motherboard on it (eg. they will bluescreen
before they even bring up their respective start up screens).