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Motherboard Change-Please Help

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by axion

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Hi
My Win98 pc suddenly went dead! A friend suggested that the power supply may need changing. I bought one and fitted it. The pc then started up but I get no video and apart from an initial whirring there is nothing else but the fan running and lights on the tower. The same friend says that the motherboard or processor may need changing. If this is done will it be necessary to reformat my hard drive and reinstall Windows? I don't want to do that if possible because I have data and programs that I need to keep.
I am quite happy to do the work myself if it is simply a question of installing a new mainboard and processor.
Look forward to any help available. I need the system for my business so if it is going to mean a complete reinstallation of Windows then I think that it might have to go to a repairer.

7 replies

by dmiles

Windows 98 should not cause a problem in switching the hard drive to another machine,make sure that you have a compatible motherboard with updated Bios that will recognize larger hard drives.
Make sure that you have all your hardware drivers saved to disk before performing the upgrade.

by axion

Thank you for the answer but can you please explain about saving the hardware drivers to disk? Where are these to be found?

by jorich

As long that you use the same brand and model of motherboard, win98 does not usually cause problems. But to be in the safe side back up all your important files. and make sure that you have a copy of all your drivers, supplied usually in a CD with your hardware ,before replacing your board. Also make sure that you have a copy of your win 98 Installation just in case that the system will need to reset its driver information files. It usually looks for it. Good Luck!

by wcp

Your question was how to keep the programs and data once you replaced motherboard (MB) and CPU.
Let?s assume the computer is ready to boot to Windows now.
To get your Windows work properly, you need to remove all the hardware (HW) components that belong to the dead MB chipsets (for example, VIA, SIS), like IDE controller, Processor to AGP controller, USB controller and so on.

The following is what I would recommend.

1. Make sure you have Windows CAB files in C: drive. If you do not, copy the files from the Windows CD to C:\Win98, for example. You may have to do this after you boot from Windows 98 Startup disk.
2. Boot Windows to Safe Mode
3. Navigate to Device Manager.
4. Expand Hard disk controller and Remove the chipset IDE controller.
5. Expand System devices and remove all components that belong to the old chipsets (anything that has the chipset name).
6. Expand Universal Serial Bus controller and remove all.
7. Reboot the computer.
8. Let Windows find new HW components that belong to the new MB. If Windows asks for Windows CD, point to C:\Win98 (where CAB files are stored) or C:\Windows\System. Some may not be installed until the new MB driver is run.
9. Install the MB driver. Sometimes, the CD-ROM is not recognized and you cannot install the MB driver. This is because the new secondary IDE controller is not installed yet. In this case, boot from Windows 98 Startup disk, copy the whole CD to a directory (say, C:\MB), boot to Windows, and install the MB drivers (usually Setup.exe) from C:\MB.
10. Install other MB utilities.
11. If your new MB has integrated HW (for example, video, sound, NIC) and you want to use those, make sure you remove or uninstall the drivers you are not going to use.

Post a comment if you need further help.

by axion

Thank you for a very comprehensive answer. I feel that I can deal with the m/board change now.

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