I have always went with Intel but during a recent past post on this board, I was swayed in the AMD direction. I picked up the ABIT AV8 K8T800 motherboard at a local store, got the AMD 64 3500 Winchester 939 pin processor from newegg, and ordered my 2 sticks of 512 PC3200 from crucial, all of which will be here this week! WOO HOO...Anyway, my question/concern is this... once I replace the motherboard and processor will it be as simple as booting up from my current boot drive? Will I have to reinstall Windows XP? I remember awhile back when I went from a P3 550 to my current P4 1.7 I had to format and reinstall everything. Now granted that was with windows 98SE, and now I am using XP. Hopefully that will make the difference. Hopefully this upgrade will go smooth without any issues and minimal downtime. Is there anything else that you might know of that I am overlooking or that I should be prepared for? One other thing... I did download the lasted BIOS version for my board in case I need to flash. I read somewhere that the AV8 motherboards needed a BIOS update before they would recoginize the winchester chips. Anything else...??? I don't want any surprises...RegardsLarry JIndio, CA

Hi Larry,"...once I replace the motherboard and processor will it be as simple as booting up from my current boot drive?"Probably not. I have managed to do this trick once... but I was going from an nVidia chipset to nVidia chipset. And I still believe I was lucky (doesn't hurt to be thorough, either).Won't hurt to try, but it is strongly recommended that you back-up all critical data on the hard drive before doing the deed.Use the Windows Add/Remove function to remove the Intel drivers (wouldn't be a bad idea to remove the sound and video drivers for a fresh install of them as well). Then use Driver Cleaner (available here http://www.drivercleaner.net/ ) to clean all the remnants of those drivers from the system and registry. Be sure to follow DC's Readme in its use.Then (this is the thorough part) go into Device Manager (while still in Safe mode after running Driver Cleaner) and remove all Intel devices as well as the video and sound devices. Remove the devices from the OS, just don't disable them. Shut the computer down and don't turn it back on until you've made the changeover to your new components.In the end you might be better off simply wiping that drive clean and starting fresh. That way you'll know there are no remnants haunting you from the previous system.With regard to the BIOS update, make sure you download Award Flash and the proper BIOS and copy them to a floppy disc. Your motherboard manual will have instructions for performing the flash.Hope this helps and good luck,Greg

Hi Greg,"Use the Windows Add/Remove function to remove the Intel drivers".....It is quite likely that there will come a time when I may be, once again, asking these same questions as it's the only way short of 'overclocking', something I've always fiercely resisted, that I am ever going to be able to run a faster processor than the P4 2.4GHz I have now. I have always been an Intel chipset fan and latterly have been hooked on Gigabyte mainboards for there reliabilty and stability.Problem is, as you have probably gathered from my many previous posts when I have touched on this subject area, that I am rather proud of the fact that I have managed to fly in the face of convention by maintaining a stable fully optimized system over several years without needing to reformat. Frankly, it would be a nightmare to be faced with having to reinstall and reconfigure what has become quite a complex setup that caters for my every needs short of making the tea!I find it extraordinary that computing technology has not developed to the stage of ensuring that the end user can upgrade a mainboard without falling foul of numerous pitfalls. This is hardly a unique situation and I have every sympathy for the original poster for what he may be about to face in terms of weeks of frustration and anxiety. Sure, he may get away with it, but it's more likely he will still be faced with having to reformat to circumvent certain insurmountable issues that come his way during or following the upgrade.Surely it's not beyond the wit of manufactures of mainboards to devise a failsafe method whereby a user can uninstall and delete all the redundant motherboard drivers prior to an upgrade with Windows XP acting as the bridge between the old and the new. We seem to have been able to accomplish pretty much everything else, so why is this fundamental but all important area continuing to receive so little attention?The only Intel entries I have in Add or Remove Programs are as in the pic below:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/97626.jpgRegards,Mike