possibly upgrading

[FieryGoose]

so basically i just reformated my hdd as some of you may have noticed in my previous thread, but where the question comes in is that im thinking about getting a pci-e mobo and maybe a 6800 series card(not going for 7800 to keep the price down a little). anyways, i absolutely don't want to reformat agian because i will have to backup 20.5 gigs of stuff which is a real hassle if you don't have a second hdd. i was wondering if i have to reformat or if there's some way to uninstall my mobo and graphics drivers and just turn off my computer and do the swap. what do you guys think, suggestions? Comments?
Thanks.:cheers:

 

[giant384]

afaik i think you have to format because the partion is recognized by the motherboard you have now

 

[FieryGoose]

ok, thanks anyone know otherwise?

 

[hungryduck]

heres the deal:
You CAN change the hardware without reformatting, BUT, windows is not going to like it at all!
So just put the new hardware in, and reinstall windows, keeping all you old files, ao you shouldn't have to reformat. XP reinstall just overwrites the Windows files and leaves the other contents of your Harddrive alone. Don't reformat your drive, just reinstall windows.

 

[FieryGoose]

so what is reinstalling going to do for me? does it take up alot more room on my hdd if i do a reinstall and does it bogg down applications and stuff? But i get what your saying about windows not likeing it, sucks...

 

[giant384]

when i changed motherboards without reinstalling it would stop loading at the windows xp loading screen. also hes saying that if you just restore windows it will reinstall windows but keep your files