Used identical motherboard replacement and Vista

[teebone]

Hi

So having faffed arount with blue screens and now no post I have the oppertunity to get hold of an identical used working motherboard. on my old board Got beeps when I removed Ram but no sequence of connections gave me post beebs. Noticed 2 capacitors buldging but not leaking

If I install the replacement motherboard will I have to reactivate Vista? The only other hardware change would be a graphics card at a later time.

Is it just a matter of connecting my hardware to the board and away we go?

Many Thanks

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The Operating System is keyed to the motherboard for Intel, so something will need to be done. Vista is a bit old for me to be sure what that thing will need to be. Do you have a full Vista or only an OEM version?

 

[gaaah]

I'm on Win 10 now, but I would think at least you could get up and running on Vista for a while without registering. Since Win 7 I'm sure they allowed you 30 days or so to authenticate. My condolences that you are still using Vista. If you need to run a legacy program on an old OS, consider using VMWare Player which is free and will allow you to run two or more OS's on one machine. I have an ancient version of AutoCAD that I run in Win 2K under VMWare Player --works great.

 

[teebone]

The Operating System is keyed to the motherboard for Intel, so something will need to be done. Vista is a bit old for me to be sure what that thing will need to be. Do you have a full Vista or only an OEM version?

Hi I have OEM sadly. but the replacement MB is identical so would windows still want activating and refuse to install?

Saw 2 capacitors on my old MB bulging could that be why its not posting?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The OEM versions of the software are one-use only, non-transferable, according to the EULA. However, if you can convince MS that your motherboard died, they may allow you to transfer it. At the same time, they will put the acid to you to upgrade to something more modern.

That COULD be why it is not working. but there are a great many possibilities.