[Antec 900]

Hi all,

Recently ive brought a new motherboard from ebay (A8N-SLI Premium skt939) but i didnt recieve the cd drive & utilities for it, but ive been to asus's website and i can download the drives from there but im not too sure which ones to download, (http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us) (GENERAL DOWNLOAD, motherboard, Socket 939, A8N-SLi Premium, then search) so ive downloaded all the ones that have the OS, Winxp in each, with UTILITY, MANUAL, ATX, BIOSTOOL, AUDIO, IDE, LAN, OTHERS, RAID, theres probably 4-5 of each.

What im asking is can i download & Unzip the files into a new folder, then burn them onto a normal data disk, shut down, fit my new motherboard with all the same configurations of my old board still on the harddrives and install the asus's new drives and utilities over the old one, going through device manager and updating the devices that have a explanation mark next to & simply updating the driver?

Ive read of using a ghost disk to run with my current board (foxconn nf4uk8ac) then when it tells me to shutdown i install my new board and upon booting from that i can safely have everything i had before without having to reinstall windows again. I have a separate drive for windows, another one for games and another for music and videos, so if worst come to worst its not a big deal just less hassle.

Im not 100% know what im doing i just want my new motherboard in, with all the drivers working right.

Many thanks guys/girls :grin:

 

[manic]

You would be better off doing a clean install of xp. You can try
to do as you mentioned, but there is alot of hardware changes that
xp might not like, namely the chipset, if the chipset on the new board
is the same brand, and close to the same specs you may have a
chance. I would backup everything that you want to keep, just in case.
The system will be flakey even if you pull it off, imho.
One more thing, very importent! If you format and start over, pull
your slave harddrive out of the machine, if not there is a good chance
it will get formatted as well, a very good chance. Good luck,

 

[Antec 900]

thanks manic much appreciated ray:

 

[linderman]

hello



all you have to do is run SYSPREP "before" you swap motherboards

that will remove all old drivers from your current OS / but wont touch your data or programs


http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=772307


http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/index.shtml

 

[Antec 900]

Thanx for both reply but ive really put myself right in the deep end! Ive downloaded all the necesary drivers i need and put them onto disk, ive then installed my new motherboard and connected everything up, but as i come to turn it on it says then normal for about 3-4 seconds then it turns itself off just like a house tripping out. Any ideas on this please?

I should of used the SYSPREP before doing the change but i havent, would this be the problem, it starts up as normal just tripping out! A friend has said doing a straight swap would be fine as hes done it before. hope ya can help once again! Thanx

 

[manic]

Is windows getting to the loading screen, then shuts down? Are
you sure all connections are ok? Did you apply thermal compound to
the cpu prior to adding heatsink? Lots of questions. Can you get into
safe mode?

 

[Old Rich]

Double check to insure you have all the power plugs in the right place . . particularly the four prong one for the Processor

 

[Antec 900]

i cant get to loading screen or safe mode or even the bios menu! Ive checked over & over the connections. Ive reapplied thermal compound to the cpu! I can press f1 to go to bios but thats as far as it goes.

 

[manic]

Did you account for all of the brass or plastic standoffs? When you
took the old board out there were probably brass standoffs screwed
to the case, this keeps the mobo from grounding out on the case.
If one is placed in the wrong spot it could cause a direct short circuit.
Not good. If you have say 7 standoffs, you need to make sure you
put 7 screws to secure the board.
Can you get in bios? If so forget what I just typed, and we will go from
there.

 

[Antec 900]

You could be right there, i had 10 on my last mobo and 9 on this one, didnt think of that! I will give that a go. Do you think that would be the answer or if not anything else? I will try that tomorrow now as times getting on, than manic

 

[manic]

That would be the first thing to check. If you do find one that was
grounding cross your fingers that you didnt fry the board. Go to
the build forum and look at Lindermans sticky thread on bench testing
a system, you might need to do just that, will save some time if in
fact your board is toast.

 

[Antec 900]

Ive just taken one of the standoffs out & i still get the same problem, i dont think it could be tripping from anywhere else. Any clues? Thanks

 

[Antec 900]

Just read lindermans post and a good post at that, i will try tomorow again and see what the problem is, i really hope it isnt fried, i only got it yesterday :normal: Will let everyone know whats happening, thanks

 

[Antec 900]

Good day guys!

Ive just gone through lindermans walkthrough of the benchmark test and ive come to a point where he asks the questions, has the fan started up on CPU and video card, LED lights or the monitor standy by lights. Everthing is working part from the monitor which shows the yellow light. My PC stays on for a little bit longer but then cuts itself out! Im using the same method as linderman using the box as a non-conductive surface. Any Ideas!?

I have brought this board of ebay, would you think it could of been faulty to begin with or have i definently fried the board, i hope i havent! Ive checked that the metal standoff that i didnt take out was touching the board and it seems it couldve been! Ive put some pics on here so u can see what ive connected!

(PIC1) This image is when everything is set up and ready to go:

(PIC2) Next image is it running but with the monitor not on, just on normal yellow standby:

(PIC3) And the last when its cut off, roughly half a minute later:

Does anyone know what happens when you try turning the pc on with a fried board?

P.S. In PIC3 ive put a power connector beside the video card, i didnt do this the first time i tried with pics 1 & 2 but ive tried it all again with it and no difference. :grin:

Thanks again! :smile:

 

[manic]

Yes you need the extra power lead plugged into video card. I cant
tell if you have the 4pin pwr connector plugged in, should be by the cpu.
Try unplugging the power supply from wall. Take out the cmos battery.
About the size of a quarter, silver in color. Wait a a couple of minutes,
replace it the same way it came out, writing side up. See what happens.
If still not posting try pulling ram out, listen for beeps, if no beeps I
would venture to guess mobo is dead. What size and brand of power
supply do you have.?

 

[Antec 900]

I have a 700w x-power psu. 4 pin connector by the cpu. When you say try taking the ram out, do you mean when the pc is on? If yes i cant do that because my video card is in the way unless i put my card in a diff slot but i cant do that can i? Thanks

 

[manic]

Dont ever take anything out of the machine while its plugged in/running.
So you removed the battery, then replaced and still no post screen?
Take out the ram, and listen for any beeps, post back.

 

[Antec 900]

ive taken out the battery, waited 2 mins put it back, turned on pc, still the same. Turned off took out ram, turned back on, no beeps just as normal then cuts out again. Thanks

 

[manic]

Imho I would say the board is dead. You may have fried it by unintentional
grounding, or the board which you say you bought off ebay was bad
from the start. This is assuming you have all power connectors installed
properly, and the power supply is putting out, it probably is. If the fans
are spinning and no beep codes with ram gone has to be a board issue.

 

[Antec 900]

ok, thank you for your honesty and help, cant believe this has happened! I will contact the seller and maybe get a refund but i really dont know if ive caused the problem. I learn from my mistakes lol Thanks again manic