(See the Win2000 section for more detail on any solution; methods that work for Win2000 are reported to also work well for XP)

Solution 1 - Swap Motherboard and let XP detect changes

Solution 2 - Force Hardware redetection

Solution 3 - File and settings transfer wizard

Solution 4 - SYSPREP

Solution 5 - You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

 

Solution 1; Simply swap motherboards and reboot; XP detects changes:

Do nothing.  Just change the motherboard, hardware, and reboot.  WinXP redetects all changes automatically, and installs the correct drivers.  Especially effective if old and new motherboards use the same chipset.

Solution 2; In-Place Upgrade to force hardware re-detection:

• Review and complete Pre-Action Procedures described in the Pre-Action. Procedures section above.
• Change motherboards or move hard drive to new system.
• Boot the system from the WinXP CD. Have your CDKEY ready.
• Select the “Install” option. (Don't select repair! The first repair option only verifies XP files against the XP CD versions and makes no system setting changes).
• Setup will find the XP install that is already there and ask if you wish to repair it. Say yes.
• Setup will run the upgrade code that will re-enumerate the hardware and set itself to boot from the new controller.
• Install newer drivers as needed.

(See the Win2000 section below for more procedural detail).

Note:  Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP (Q312369)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q312369

Solution 3; File and Settings Transfer Wizard:

 

If you need to keep your existing OS settings etc., you can use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard and save them to a CD-R or a local hard drive on a network.  Then after you have installed XP, transfer them back.

Microsoft user guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/crawford_november12.mspx 

Microsoft step by step guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/mgrtfset.mspx 

Solution 4: Microsoft SYSPREP 

• I have swapped motherboards several times. The key is preparation of the old system before taking out the old motherboard.

• There is a SYSPREP tool on the XP CD.

• You may need to extract files from the Windows XP CD, files are located at CD:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\ in a cab file called DEPLOY.CAB. The files are Sysprep.exe and  Setupcl.exe.

• With the old motherboard still intact:

• You run sysprep and "RESEAL" Windows XP.

• Then you put the new board in, and it re-activates Windows XP and populates the device manager list.

• You do need to re-activate with the same key-code, and if you exhaust that number of activations, it will prompt you to call

• Microsoft and you get a new release key at no cost from them over the phone.

• If you have hardware conflicts with the new motherboard and any device, you will have extensive problems noticeable by memory dumps.

For detailed info. go to :

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302577 

 

Solution 5: You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

   

(A big thanx to Edward C. Hernandez  for pointing out this useful tip and guide)

• This behavior can occur if the Undo_guimode.txt file is present in the Windows\System32 folder on your hard disk when you perform any of the actions that are listed in the "Symptoms" section on a computer with Windows XP preinstalled by a computer manufacturer. This file is created by the wizard that runs when you first start a computer with Windows XP preinstalled by a computer manufacturer.

The information in this article applies only to computers with Windows XP preinstalled by a computer manufacturer.

You may lose data that is stored in the All Users folder and default program templates and settings that are stored in the Default User folder after you reinstall, repair, or upgrade Windows XP. You may be missing Start menu shortcuts, items in the Startup group, and documents, pictures, or music files that are stored in the Shared Documents folder.

This problem can occur after you perform any of the following actions on a computer that has Windows XP preinstalled by a computer manufacturer (also known as an Original Equipment Manufacturer, or OEM):

• You reinstall Windows XP in the same folder by clicking Upgrade (Recommended) after you run Winnt32.exe, or by clicking the Install Windows XP link on the "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" screen that appears when you insert the Windows XP CD-ROM. This is also known as performing an in-place upgrade or an in-place installation.
• You repair Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, pressing ENTER to set up Windows XP, and then pressing R to repair the selected installation.
• You upgrade the Windows XP Home Edition installation that was preinstalled by your computer manufacturer to the retail version of Windows XP Professional.

 

For detailed info go to :

 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312369/en-us