will my recovery cd's work with a new motherboard...?

Question

i have a compaq presario desktop which came with recovery cds in case i need to re-install my OS...
un-fortunately i have to re-place my mother board(ms-6577)..and i am not able to find the exact mobo.....so i have to install a diff mobo...and i have a doubt if my recovery cd.s will work as far as installing the os is concerned..
i have that doubt coz if i try to use the cd in a diff computer ..it fails...it says "this is not the computer for this recovery cds" or something like that...
any ideas or solution...coz i dont want to spend on another copy of win xp...

if the answer is no,,please suggest a way to install xp which should be genuine/legal...
i have my COA for XP,,it is an OEM..

Answer 1

your recovery cd's will not work (i'm 99% sure of that) because those recovery cd's where created only for your computer (well ... for all the computers that have exactly the same components). since u changed the motherboard with another, the only way for it to work is that the new motherboard uses the same drivers like the old one.
the only solution i can see is that u contact the Compaq local office and ask them if they can exchange your cd's or something like that. another reason the recovery cd's don't work on other computers is that your copy of windows is OEM ... this means it can't be used on any other computer except the original one.
if u have the windows xp license on your computer case u can also borrow a windows cd from someone (friend, store, ...) and use the license key when installing the fresh copy of windows. in this case u will have to install the drivers manually (some of them are probably on the recovery cd's ... so you can ask windows to search them there)

Answer 2

The recovery CDs are made especially for that certain computer. If you changed the motherboard, they will not work. You can just install Windows from any Windows CD, just be sure to use the same serial that is on your computer case...that should work fine.

Answer 3

reinstall drivers and OS. new motherboard doesnt mean you have to reinstall everything. i replaced my motherboard and cpu and plugged in my hd and everything was still there.