New MoBo, Old BIOS....

[jew123]

I am in the process of upgrading my Dell 4100. It came with an Intel MoBo so I am putting in a new Intel D875PBZ MoBo, P4 3E CPU, 2 gig of ram and a larger power supply. Video card, modem, sound card and HDs are not being replaced.

Now for the OS, I got Win 2000 Pro svc pk1 on the computer from Dell and have upgraded to svs pk 4. My problem is that my Win 2000 will not install on a non-Dell computer. I suspect that the setup.exe program checks the BIOS for "Dell" and will not install if not found. I do not relish having to pay again for Win 2000. When I dispose of the old MoBo, CPU and memory my copy of Win 2000 will not go with it.

Is there a workaround for this problem? Probably cannot just boot with the new MoBo and my old "C" drive then install the new drivers for the MoBo.

I thought about flashing the new MoBo's BIOS with Dell's BIOS since both are Intel. Then I could do a clean install of Win 2000. Once the OS was installed on the HD I would the update the BIOS with the latest from Intel. How much smoke would this create??!?

Any suggestions?

[Denniss]

If you still have the license (written on paper or sticker on the case) you should be free to install W2K using a copied W2K disk not limited to Dell .
The license is important but not the CD the software is located .
But you must have the license - all other is illegal .

[Ritchie]

Where is it failing - Is there an actual on-screen message during Setup telling you that Windows 2000 will not install on your Dell PC?

[jew123]

Yes, There is a warning box that appears and informs me the it will only install onto a Dell machine. This tells me that the setup program checks the BIOS then cancels the installation.

I talked with a company that builds and sells custom computers and they agreed with Denniss that as long as I have a valid license/CD Key that I can use another copy of the OS. My copy of Win 2K will not be installed on another computer.


Hopefully my new Dell hybrid will work just fine. Do not know what to do about the rest/on/off connector since mine are all on one connector.

Thanks for the help.

[Ritchie]

Oh OK I understood the other way around. At first I understood that you wanted to install a generic Windows 2000 onto a Dell PC, which I thought should work OK, but now I understand that you have a Dell customised Windows 2000 which you want to install onto a generic PC, which I would agree you would have difficulties with.

I am concerned you will either have to purchase a Dell PC or a standard Windows 2000 - if this is the case I would opt for a standard Windows 2000.

[Denniss]

There's no need to buy anything new - the Dell W2K key should work with a standard W2K installation CD .
As said the usage of Windoze is fixed/linked to the license/license key - no need to use the original CD .

There should be some hints in the net how to make a full Windoze out of an OEM/Recovery Windoze CD .

[jew123]

Thanks all.

I got an OEM copy and will use my CD Key/license.

Now to find an Intel D875PBZLK MoBo that supports a P 4 3E Prescott Processor.

[jew123]

Back again...

I am finishing up my new BOX. Put in an Intel D875PBZ motherboard, an Intel P4 2.8C processor and 2 Gig of RAM.

Eveything is working fine with one minor glitch (cannot have everything I guess), when I tell Windows 2000 Pro to Shut Down, the computer only goes into sleep mode. Over the weekend as I installed cards and programs everything worked fine.

Tuesday it would no longer power off or do a restart from the Shut Down optiion. To get it to shut off I have to hold the power button in for 5 - 10 seconds.

I have checked everything in the BIOS Setup I can think of. Any ideas??

[KachiWachi]

On my older i430VX machine, I had turned APM on in W2K Pro (Control Panel -> Power Options -> APM). When I did that, the machine would Restart when I selected Shutdown from the menu.

Something to do with that maybe, even though your machine is alot newer??

[Ritchie]

Having to hold down the power button for a few seconds to power off manually is normal on ATX systems.

However, as per your shutdown problem, someone I know has this problem under Win98 and it is that the network device is trying to communicate with something that is not connected. If he either attaches a cable to a powered device (such as powering on his ADSL modem that is always connected) or removes the card, the system will be able to shut down. Given that the D875PBZ board has n/w on-board, try disabling the device in the device manager and see what happens. I'm not sure if this is sufficient, but if it works you know it is a networking related issue.