I want to upgrade MB without OS reinstall

[Nizmo]

I only have one HDD with all the programs installed and irreplaceable media files collection on it. I'm upgrading the MB as well as the GPU with a new CPU chip, so basically it's a new build, but I don't want to reinstall the OS at the cost of spending my weekend reinstalling all the programs and it's not an option as I have media files on it that I can't simply replace. I understand that if I do the "repair install" with the OS disc, it will only reinstall the system files to make HDD recognize the new hardware and won't touch the other data, which sounds like exactly what I want, I would still have to update the OS but that's not a problem as long as I don't have to reinstall all the other programs and keep the media files intact. I've only used the OS which is XP Home on just one PC all this time, so I'm wondering if it'll prompt me to call MS for a new activation code during reinstall? But more importantly, the big question I have is whether this "repair install" method is fail-safe, meaning it should work given that all my components and HDD are functional? I'm aware that the best way is to backup my data, but I just can't afford a new HDD right now after what I'm going to spend on the new components. If there are any alternate ways to do it safely, I'm all ears.

[Force Flow]

Take a look here: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=151522

[glc]

Try the IDE controller change as indicated in that thread - if it works, great. If not, then repair install. Yes, you will have to reactivate.

[rwest]

I would seriously wait to do the repair intsall, untill you can afford a drive to clone for back up. I'm not the guru for sure, but I tried the repair install once, and had to reformat. I'm not saying the problem couldn't have been me, but if it fails you are in deep....

At minimal get a flash drive and save your personal files.

[Nizmo]

What if I partition the hard drive into two, and put all the non-replaceable media files on partition A, then do a clean install on partition B? I would have to install other programs as well but at least I can keep my data files intact this way, and should be able to access it even if something goes wrong during the OS install on the other partition. Is this a viable alternative?

[glc]

Not advisable. Hard drives are DIRT cheap these days.

[Nizmo]

Thanks for the advice, I managed to cut a few pennies on the other components, and am getting a second HDD, now that I have 2 HDDs to play with, I may install Windows7 RS on one and use 4GB of RAM I would have in disposal as well. Can't wait to play COD World at War on full settings (got the game free with a GPU purchase.), yay.