Will I be able to re-install from the partition?

[Noya]

Hi, I have a Compaq Presario SR1250nx. I added a gig of pc3200 and an extra 250gb Seagate SATA. I've tried to sell it to no avail. But I did manage to sell the mobo/P4. I'm about to order:
Opteron 165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103588
Biostar mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813138264

I've never built a PC before.

Now as you might know, Compaq pre-loads XP on a partition. I've done a clean re-install once by pushing F4, F10...one of the F?'s during startup. Someone on another thread mentioned that pressing the F(4, 10, ?) whatever is accessing the BIOS on the mobo, which is going to be shipped off the day after Christmas. Will I be able to reinstall XP from my SATA HD that it was loaded on from the factory?

 

[Guest]

I doubt it. To boot from the Recovery partition, you need to hit F10 and I doubt the new mobo will recognize F10.

Grumpy

 

[Noya]

That really sucks.

 

[Guest]

Why did you sell the original Mobo/P4? You can't really upgrade OEM computers.

Grumpy

 

[Noya]

With the price that I got for the mobo/P4, the Opty/BioStar is costing little more than a bill and is probably the chance to utilize the 1.5gb of pc3200 RAM. I tried selling the whole PC to no avail.

 

[Guest]

Guess you'll have to buy a copy of Windows XP now.

Grumpy

 

[Noya]

Yeah, that's what I'll do :roll:

Thanks for your help/advice.