Reinstall of Vista

[Scutworker]

I am running Vista Home 32bit on an Acer T180. I recently upgraded the CPU from an Athlon Sempron to a Athlon 64 X2. Now when I boot the PC, Vista freezes as it boots. I can still boot into Safe Mode and also using a Live Linux DVD. Also, surprisingly, sometimes Vista will boot and will run fine and both cores of the CPU are recognised.

I obviously need to solve this problem, but am unsure how to proceed.

After the PC freezes, I reset it and after a reboot am taken to a screen with the safe mode option that also advises using the Vista repair option.

I have a DVD of Vista (not an OEM, but without SP1) but I have installed SP1 on the PC.

So, what do I do?

Can I use the repair option, or do I need to uninstall SP1 first?

If this does not work, is it possible to reinstall Vista from inside Vista when it is running so that my settings are preserved? Again, with or without SP1?

If that is not possible, then I will reinstall Vista by booting from the DVD. I know this will mean reinstalling all my programs from scratch, but will all my MP3's, photos etc be preserved, or does Vista wipe the Harddisk?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.
Darren.

 

[acdcfan]

I am running Vista Home 32bit on an Acer T180. I recently upgraded the CPU from an Athlon Sempron to a Athlon 64 X2. Now when I boot the PC, Vista freezes as it boots. I can still boot into Safe Mode and also using a Live Linux DVD. Also, surprisingly, sometimes Vista will boot and will run fine and both cores of the CPU are recognised.

I obviously need to solve this problem, but am unsure how to proceed.

After the PC freezes, I reset it and after a reboot am taken to a screen with the safe mode option that also advises using the Vista repair option.

I have a DVD of Vista (not an OEM, but without SP1) but I have installed SP1 on the PC.

So, what do I do?

Try installing chipset drivers if you haven't done it already

If that is not possible, then I will reinstall Vista by booting from the DVD. I know this will mean reinstalling all my programs from scratch, but will all my MP3's, photos etc be preserved, or does Vista wipe the Harddisk?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.
Darren.

If you reinstall it all of your documents, mp3 will be gone/erased overwritten. Try with the chipset drivers first, if that doesn't work reseat your CPU

 

[Scutworker]

Thanks. I will try the chipset drivers. Does anybody know where I can get them from for vista 32bit? Google didn't help me.

 

[Extensa]

Go to the following website: Amd Athlon 64 X2

Here is the drivers for your chipset.

 

[Scutworker]

Brillaint. Thanks so much for your help. I will see if it works....

 

[Extensa]

It could also be these ones: AMD-8000 Chipset Drivers

 

[Scutworker]

I am now at home and trying to get it to work without any luck. I have tried both those links but can't see any chipset drivers for Vista 32bit, only Linux. Sorry for being so stupid.

 

[pooch]

Hey Scutworker,

I have had a quick look and cannot find what you need, most probably because vista comes with all the necessary drivers.
I myself think it would be a good idea to reinstall.
To save your docs mp3's use the link below. Make another partition where you can put them. I hope you have enough free space, if not try to free some up.
Remember on reinstalling to leave this new partition alone!! or you could delete everything.
You may also have to update your bios, might be a good idea to do this before a reinstall, but after making a new partition and saving your bits.
Refer to the Acer update site for your model.

http://www.vistax64.com/software/193847-free-partition-manager.html

I hope this helps

Pooch

 

[Airbot]

Hi scutworker

You might want to use a program like PC Wizard 2008 or SIW to see exactly what chipset you have. I have amd athlon 64 x2 and I have nVidia chipset.