Nforce 3 to Nforce 4 reformat needed?

El Kapitano · Mar 20, 2006, 04:29 PM

I am finally making the move to PCIe and have just got me an Asus A8N-E Nforce 4 Ultra motherboard along with a Sapphire X1900XTX.

Currently I have an MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum which is an Nforce 3 250 chipset

Now do I need to reinstall windows totally or can I driverclean the ATI and Nforce drivers and install my hdd to the new board and install drivers on boot?

soloz2 · Mar 21, 2006, 04:44 PM

well you may be able to get by w/o doing a full reformat/reinstall but because you are switching chipsets I would really suggest you go the reformat route. I think it will be easier in the long run.

you can try to do the switch w/o but I've only tried when everything stayed the same except the mobo and cpu (went from A8N-SLI Deluxe and 3200+ venice to my DFI Expert and opty 148)
install your new mobo and then insert your windows disc. boot to CD and do a repair. this may work and allow you to boot into windows where you can install your new drivers. note: since you are changing gfx and chipset you might want to uninstall those drivers before you swap out mobos. this method does not always work and you may end up loosing your data anyway so you should back it up regardless.

El Kapitano · Mar 21, 2006, 10:05 PM

Ah well, the short answer folks is ........No

As solz2 said it can probably be done if you're careful but the quickest route would be to format and reinstall.

10 hours of messing around last night and I ended up with the dreaded zero diplay error trying to install ATI catalyst drivers so I've had to reformat and reinstall after all.

Still it's nice to have a clean fresh PC after so long (XP Pro - up for 18 months, a record in this house).

Mar 20, 2006, 04:29 PM	#1
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	Nforce 3 to Nforce 4 reformat needed? I am finally making the move to PCIe and have just got me an Asus A8N-E Nforce 4 Ultra motherboard along with a Sapphire X1900XTX. Currently I have an MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum which is an Nforce 3 250 chipset Now do I need to reinstall windows totally or can I driverclean the ATI and Nforce drivers and install my hdd to the new board and install drivers on boot?

Mar 21, 2006, 04:44 PM	#2
soloz2 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 362 Rep Power: 0	well you may be able to get by w/o doing a full reformat/reinstall but because you are switching chipsets I would really suggest you go the reformat route. I think it will be easier in the long run. you can try to do the switch w/o but I've only tried when everything stayed the same except the mobo and cpu (went from A8N-SLI Deluxe and 3200+ venice to my DFI Expert and opty 148) install your new mobo and then insert your windows disc. boot to CD and do a repair. this may work and allow you to boot into windows where you can install your new drivers. note: since you are changing gfx and chipset you might want to uninstall those drivers before you swap out mobos. this method does not always work and you may end up loosing your data anyway so you should back it up regardless. __________________ [COLOR=gray][COLOR=red]CPU:[/COLOR] AMD Opteron 165 CCBBE @ 2.8Ghz [/COLOR] [COLOR=gray][COLOR=red]Motherboard:[/COLOR] DFI nF4 SLI-DR Expert [COLOR=red]Memory:[/COLOR] 2gb G.Skill F1-4000USU2-2 [COLOR=red]Video:[/COLOR] Asus 7900GT TOP @ 700/1700 [COLOR=red]Sound:[/COLOR] Modded X-Fi Elite Pro [COLOR=red]HD:[/COLOR] 2x Seagate 250Gb RAID 0, 1 Seagate 320Gb [COLOR=red]Optical Drives:[/COLOR] Sony DVD-Rom, Plextor 16x DVD DL RW [COLOR=red]Case:[/COLOR] CM Stacker [COLOR=red]PSU:[/COLOR] PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 [COLOR=red]Cooling:[/COLOR] Custom Water [COLOR=yellow][COLOR=red]Keyboard/Mouse:[/COLOR] [/COLOR]Saitec Eclipse & Logitech MX518 with a Razer ExactMat mouse pad [COLOR=red]Sound:[/COLOR] Modded X-fi > Soloz Audio Silver IC > Maxed PIMETA > Beyer DT 770 Pro/80 cans [COLOR=red]HTPC:[/COLOR] [/COLOR][COLOR=gray]AMD 3800X2[/COLOR][COLOR=gray], Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe, G.Skill 2GB DDR400, MSI 6600GT, Haupauge PVR150, SB [/COLOR][COLOR=gray]Audigy 2ZS[/COLOR][COLOR=gray], Samsung 16x DVD DL RW, Sunbeam Nuuo PSU, Antec P180 case, AC Freezer64 Pro, Viewsonic N2750w LCD HDTV Heatware eBay [/COLOR]

Mar 21, 2006, 10:05 PM	Thread Starter #3
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	Ah well, the short answer folks is ........No As solz2 said it can probably be done if you're careful but the quickest route would be to format and reinstall. 10 hours of messing around last night and I ended up with the dreaded zero diplay error trying to install ATI catalyst drivers so I've had to reformat and reinstall after all. Still it's nice to have a clean fresh PC after so long (XP Pro - up for 18 months, a record in this house).