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TedM · 06-30-2005, 04:29 PM

OK, based on the excellent advice above, I have purchased the A8N-SLI and Athlon 3200 Venice. I chose the A8N-SLI over the A8N-E because of the greater number of peripherals, expandability, etc. Also, I found out that the second SLI slot defaults to a PCI-E x1 slot unless specifically configured for SLI. I also purchased a BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC graphics board, which should be more than enough for me.

I want to anticipate as many of the potential build/startup problems as I can. In the event that my current OS (Windows XP Home) is not recognised, I will not hesitate to do a clean OS install. I try to do this about once a year anyway, as I love the sweet way the system runs when everthing's fresh. I've read what some of you replied to Lewis11777 in his thread "Mobo Upgrade Prep," started 6/26, and agree heartily.

However, will this present a problem under my current circumstances? All I have for the clean OS install is the "Recovery Disk" from my initial system - a PowerSpec computer as sold by MicroCenter. This has always been fine as my only previous upgrades have been more memory, better optical and hard drives. The Recovery Disk formats the hard drive and installs a fresh copy of XP - no problem.

My concern is that now I'm doing a new mobo, CPU, and graphics board upgrade, and the Recovery Disk will undoubtedly install all the drivers for the old system. Is this a problem? Do I need to find/buy a real copy of Windows XP, or is my Recovery Disk adequate? Will I have any trouble going back in and installing the new drivers for the new hardware? If so, what are your suggestions as a workaround? Step-by-step procedures would be greatly appreciated if any are necessary

You guys/gals are the greatest. Thanks for your help!

06-30-2005, 04:29 PM	#17 (permalink)
TedM Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 8 OS: xp home	Clean OS install problems? OK, based on the excellent advice above, I have purchased the A8N-SLI and Athlon 3200 Venice. I chose the A8N-SLI over the A8N-E because of the greater number of peripherals, expandability, etc. Also, I found out that the second SLI slot defaults to a PCI-E x1 slot unless specifically configured for SLI. I also purchased a BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC graphics board, which should be more than enough for me. I want to anticipate as many of the potential build/startup problems as I can. In the event that my current OS (Windows XP Home) is not recognised, I will not hesitate to do a clean OS install. I try to do this about once a year anyway, as I love the sweet way the system runs when everthing's fresh. I've read what some of you replied to Lewis11777 in his thread "Mobo Upgrade Prep," started 6/26, and agree heartily. However, will this present a problem under my current circumstances? All I have for the clean OS install is the "Recovery Disk" from my initial system - a PowerSpec computer as sold by MicroCenter. This has always been fine as my only previous upgrades have been more memory, better optical and hard drives. The Recovery Disk formats the hard drive and installs a fresh copy of XP - no problem. My concern is that now I'm doing a new mobo, CPU, and graphics board upgrade, and the Recovery Disk will undoubtedly install all the drivers for the old system. Is this a problem? Do I need to find/buy a real copy of Windows XP, or is my Recovery Disk adequate? Will I have any trouble going back in and installing the new drivers for the new hardware? If so, what are your suggestions as a workaround? Step-by-step procedures would be greatly appreciated if any are necessary You guys/gals are the greatest. Thanks for your help!