Would you reinstall Win XP...?

Iridium · Jul 17, 2003, 11:28 PM

....After the installation of a new processor? Just upgraded to a P4 2.4GHz processor and I was wondering if it is a good idea to do a format and fresh install of windows after the upgrade.

CherryPopper · Jul 18, 2003, 01:28 AM

Nahhhh.. why would ya do that?

scobywhru · Jul 18, 2003, 01:55 AM

some people have had issues some haven't if its a 2.4 C I might just to make sure it is using the hyperthreading but if its working then its probably not needed

Judas · Jul 18, 2003, 02:42 AM

I reinstall windows when i get a new printer....

jkayca2 · Jul 18, 2003, 08:01 AM

IMHO cleaning house (re-installing Windows) is good to do every once in a while. I usually schedule it around a hardware upgrade. If you're worried soley about XP working properly with your new CPU I wouldn't bother.

tek · Jul 18, 2003, 08:09 AM

I'd Format for new RAM.

toddsmack2k · Jul 18, 2003, 02:49 PM

If it has been e few months I would just for the fact that it always is nice to have a fresh clean Windows install. It is your choice if you dont experience any problems with the new CPU. If you don't have much to back up or can back everything up you what to keep easliy I would do it.

**Roadee** · Jul 18, 2003, 02:53 PM

I agree......if it has been a while....or if you start having glitches......do it to it~!!

**MIG-31** · Jul 18, 2003, 02:54 PM

don't see the point of doing so myself

Dyre Straits · Jul 18, 2003, 03:35 PM

Although I haven't changed processors since installing XP, I have had the experience a few times on 98SE. So, take that into consideration.

My experience has been about 50/50. I've had instances where things just didn't work out right after simply changing the components. In many cases there will be all new System files needed for the new CPU. So, to be safe, I'd actually opt anymore to reinstall the OS from scratch....after a reformat of the hard drive. The bad experiences by not doing so just were too much of a hassle. This will give you a clean registry to work with and eliminate any possible conflicts.

Now, that's just my 2 cents....and probably not worth that much.

mike2h · Jul 18, 2003, 04:03 PM

xp is much more stable & upgrade freindly than previous vers. as stated above, i would not bother unless you actually have problems.

BobyJo · Jul 18, 2003, 04:12 PM

The two things that actually may require a format and reinstall, are a new motherboard with a different chipset.
The other is a new video card of a different brand and speed, seasoned users may get around doing this, most people would have to do this clean install.

Stormy · Jul 19, 2003, 12:26 AM

What about New mobo by same company with same chipset? ONly thing different would be the motherboard. CPU, RAM, Chipset all the same. Except chipset will be SiS 735, not SiS 730.

Rayder · Jul 19, 2003, 01:01 AM

Heh, I recently upgraded my CPU(from 2100 to 2400) and started having problems(pops to desktop in games, crashing in IE), so I reformatted. It turned out that it was actually a few BIOS settings(RAM settings mostly; RAM driving strength) that were set too aggressive causing my problems, not the setup, because it still did it after the format. Go figure.

At any rate, I have alot more room to play around on the harddrive now and everything is back to stable. At least, so far.

So if you start having problems after the upgrade, check your BIOS settings before refomatting.

astrolabos · Jul 19, 2003, 05:07 AM

As you can see from the windows device manager the cpu is listed there. You can also see that you can uninstall it

So, you can uninstall the previous cpu that you have, shut down and then install the new one

I don't think that you reinstall WinXp when you change your VGA card (right?

)

BobyJo · Jul 19, 2003, 08:30 AM

A video card change is the most important reason to do a clean install of the OS.
Remanents of drivers are extremely hard to remove from the registry.
A clean install, then install the mobo drivers, then install the video card drivers of your choice.
This proceedure will assure you of the best performance from your system that you can get.

Datagg · Jul 19, 2003, 02:25 PM

Be prepared though if you do do it that you may have to call microsoft for a new key. This happened to me, as a matter of fact it happens on each new piece of hardware I install. The microsft hotline dude told me that it wasx designed to do this for only major upgrades such as mobo cpu's etc. Yet ive had this happen even with a graphics card change, he told me that im not the only one that this is happening to,that there was a glitch and we have had to increase our phone staff for this situation....

So, my 2 cents would say to just, if your worried about compatabilty and the new comp reconizing the new cpu, just reinstall xp without formating, this way your xp key will remain intact, otherwise if a new fresh instal your most likely going to have to make a call to microsoft.....

I for one would still do a fresh install, and find the call to microsoft annoying yet worth it for your new rig setup.....