Usually you do not have to wipe the hard drive. Most operating systems will let you boot up from a hard drive regardless of which computer/mother board it's running with.

However, I have heard that Windows XP will not allow the operating system to boot up if you move the hard drive to a new computer. I guess when you register it with the license key, the OS records information about the hardware as well. If that hardware changes, then XP fails to boot. This is only something I've heard about, and I've actually tried to move an XP hard drive to a new PC and it did not boot up - but personally - I'm not aware if this is an XP issue or another hardware problem that I was experiencing at the time.

Also, it is always best to format a drive when installing a new motherboard, especially if the new board has a different chip set than the original; VIA, INTEL, AMD, NFORCE ...

Win XP is especially testy of all the operating systems. If the ide controller is different than the original it will blue screen at first boot and is hard to get past. Only with a repair reinstall can you pass it.

One other problem with swapping motherboards is integrated sound. If you have integrated sound on both the original and the new board I could almost promise you that you will not get it to work with the new board.

Last but not least, I can not explain the difference you will see between a reconfigure and a reinstall, if you do choose to reinstall you will benefit for better stability and a faster computer.

It is not as if with Win XP only that you have to reinstall the OS and all other softwares on the hard drive if you change the motherboard. But the same thing happens with windows 2k too. While changing the MBD of one COmpaw Enl PC I Encountered the same problem. May be that happens with other Os (Read Microsoft) also. A little Bit of experimentation with other Os will let you know if at all that happens.

No, you do not have to reformat. But if the motherboard is of a different type, your drivers will be no good. You will have to change back to the defaut Microsoft drivers and then install your new MB drivers. GO to Google and type "Merge Winxp" and you will find the procedure laid out for you.

They're correct concerning the responses with WinXP. When Windows XP was introduced, so was "Windows Product Activation". When you first register Windows XP your Product ID Key is sent to Microsoft via your internet connection. and Windows XP takes a snapshot of your hardware, including the type motherboard you have. The Product ID Key used in setting up Windows and your hardware information is also saved in a file on your hard drive named "wpa.dbl". Every time you start Windows it checks this file and compares it to your current hardware, and if you alter the hardware, the information contained in your "wpa.dbl" file will not match the configuration of the computer and Windows won't boot.

Windows 98 or earlier ? That's easy !! - boot Windows in Safe Mode The problem will be that the drivers installed in the OS will not match what's on the motherboard. What you need to do is remove all of the drivers in Windows RIGHT BEFORE you replace the MoBo. Make sure you have the disks for you Motherboard, video card and any other peripherals if necessary.

First, back up all of your data. Then do this: 1. Right-click on My Computer. Select Properties. 2. Click on the Device Manager tab. 3. Remove ALL of the devices in the Window.

After you have done this, shut down your machine, install the new Mobo in your computer. Have all of your driver disks ready. When you start up, Windows' Plug and Play feature will look for the drivers for your new (and old) hardware. This is where you'll need the disks to reinstall the drivers.

I'm not sure about PS3 and XBOX360 but I know on PC you may turn it off by going to the options in-game, clicking game options and turning "show blood" off.

additionally by opening console via the ` key you may type set cg_showblood "0".

As for console I think it asks you on you're first boot up "would you like to enable adult content .e.c.t" and if you click no blood will not be enabled.

There's no way to get rid of bleeding in a game! That's stupid!

Almost all PC component and software vendors make two versions of the same product based on a difference in the distribution channels. Retail ("distribution") is the main consumer channel, whilst OEM (to various systems manufacturers) is another.

The retail channel typically uses colourful retail boxed products, with installation manuals, software CDs etc. Of course the cost of making the nice-looking packages is passed on to you, the customer. Retail packages are also more voluminous, and therefore cost more to ship. The OEM channel distributes products mainly to system builders and integrators, for example Dell, HP and Sun (the OEMs) and many small ones such as the mom-and-pop shop on the corner and embedded systems designers. These bulk-pack products do not have fancy packaging materials and are often produced in much higher volume, both of which result in much lower prices that are not generally available to the public. The OEM products are of the same quality as their retails counterparts. However sometimes the manufacturer warranty is different, shorter or non existent. They also tend not to include supporting materials such as manuals and drivers when applicable, however these are available for download (which tend to be more current versions anyway). Where ever possible DiscounTechnology.com distributes and sells the OEM versions of products (e.g. SCSI hard drives). This allows our customers to benefit from substantially reduced capital costs and much improved return on investment (R.O.I.). Besides the packaging and prices, there are sometimes other subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the retail and OEM versions of a product. Here are a few examples.

Warranty: Many types of OEM hardware components come with the same warranty as retail boxed ones. One well-known exception is hard drives. Retail boxed hard drives often come with a three or five year warranty, while the warranty of OEM drives is the responsibility of the reseller. Please check the product page for Limited Warranty information where applicable. We believe the substantial price savings of OEM hard drives easily justifies the difference in the warranty. Some of our OEM drives are 50% the price of a retail drive. That means you'd have to have more than two drives fail after the end of our warranty, but before the end of the retail warranty before the retail warranty would save you any money. That assumes that the replacement drives are the same price in the future. However as we all know, technology price continually drop. So in 5 years when your drive is likely to fail, how much will a replacement be? Will you want the same "small" capacity in five years anyway?

N.B. Many computer systems manufacturers (e.g. IBM, Dell, HP) will ONLY warranty drives installed in their systems if the drives have their OEM part numbers. So if your server or system has an active warranty, it may cover our OEM drives, if you select a part with a OEM part number from that same manufacturer (meaning Dell OEM for Dell servers etc.).

Bundled Software: Sometimes the retailed version comes with bundled applications software, whereas the OEM version may not. This is especially true for high-end video and audio cards. How useful such bundled software is to you needs to be carefully weighed against the price difference.

Manual and Support: The hard-copy manual for the OEM version may be limited to one per shipping box. However, the vast majority of information is on the manufacturer's web site. Some manufacturers claim that they do not support their own OEM products. The OEMs are supposed to do the support. In such cases, discountechnology.com will provide the technical guidance to help you install the product.

More Information:

1. OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) is typically a company that uses a component made by a second company in its own product, or sells the product of the second company under its own brand.

Generally, dealers of OEM products add something of value before reselling the merchandise. An OEM vendor that does this is known as a "value added reseller" (VAR). A VAR might build components, sub-systems, or systems from quality OEM parts. OEM goods allow VARs a wide range of creative marketing choices, which permits smaller dealers to be competitive in the marketplace.

The question of whether the X-box or the PS3 is "better" than the other is a matter of opinion.

Determining which one is "better" depends on the person using the game console, because each console offers a wide variety of differentiating features - some will love one console, and others will hate it. To figure out which console is better for you, you can easily go to each platform's website and compare specs. Get the one that offers you what you need, and has the games you want to play! Look at what you need to buy seperately from the console for it to work as well. Be sure to check out the controllers for each. Having a controller you enjoy is important!

Here are some facts and opinions from other users:

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The PS3 is better for the price, which is competitive with most Xbox 360 variants.

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Technically speaking, the PS *does* have the edge in terms of raw processing power, but design mistakes/limitations by Sony mean that the PS3 is not capable of running flat out with all its special graphic effects turned on, without leaving something else off, as the internal memory bandwidth isn't adequate to do everything all at once. This means that any gap that might possibly have existed between PS3 hardware and the 360 is largely cancelled out, as the 360 *can* run with everything ramped up to 100%. Also the 360 is easier to program for, so developers tend to get the best out of it easily.

But to a gamer, there's little difference - they'll both have beautiful looking and playable games in a range of genres for you to happily blast away on. You'd be as happy with either probably, as long as you're not interested in getting the same one all your friends have got and therefore have reason to opt for one over the other. In practise, unless you're buying a console for a specific title that is platform exclusive to one or the other, you'd have just as much fun with either console. Prices are falling, there's quality pre-owned games to be had so there's plenty of value there for gamers. Personally I'd go for whichever was the cheapest and/or came bundled with the most games I wanted to play.

* While spending time with friends, in the company of a PS3, a 360 and a Wii - the 360 was played for 90% of the time spent gaming.

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Ps3 is better, end of story! More games, better games, free online, and blu ray. It has some of the best games i have ever played which are not on Xbox, such as God of War, and Uncharted 3!

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On the playstation 3 you don't have to pay for online playing. it has good games like Little Big Planet, Killzone, and God of War. But I will admit the Xbox 360 has some pretty good games, like Halo, Gears of War, and Left 4 Dead, and the games are cheap.

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Well, it's all what gamers argue about: Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii and all of them have their own best things about them. I have a PS3, I love it, it's great. I want Xbox 360 for only one game.

For some of the games Xbox 360 releases are only for Xbox 360 but you have to pay every month for Xbox Live, and no one should have to do that. Wii and PS3 are all free online services. As for exclusive games for Xbox 360, PS3 makes their own franchises with games like Uncharted.

I like Wii as well, but now PlayStation Move has come out with motion controllers, accessories, and a great camera that detects all that. PS3 has the most powerful motherboard in it with 6 graphics cards and cores that make it really quick with great picture quality. I haven't seen one game go slow or freeze up.

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PS3 is a better buy. If you buy Xbox 360 at the lowest price, you have to buy the hard drive separately. On the PS3, you can access everything including online play for free, while for Xbox 360 you have to have a subscription.

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Talking about Hardware, PlayStation 3 definitely wins with the Blu Ray ability and the graphics are much better. I'd say the PS3 software is good, the online interaction is good too, but I also own an Xbox 360 which I probably play more than the PS3.

With free online capabilities, a larger marketplace to buy classic PS1 & PS2 games, the PlayStation Home software and Blu Ray technology, among other things, make the PS3 an overall "better" console. Obviously that's my opinion, but people generally prefer Xbox 360s because they're cheaper.

I'd say one is not better than the other, it's a personal preference. There are far too many fanboys of each system on the internet who will tell you otherwise. Maybe people who've had an Xbox right from the start are more loyal to Microsoft, and the same for PlayStation owners with Sony. I guess I'm fortunate enough to have both, but I can't really say which is better, it's all a matter of the individual's enjoyment of each console and their games and software.

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I think that true hardcore gamers have the Xbox 360 PS3 and they have a Gamer equipped PC that is not something you can purchase cheaply. There is nothing wrong with having more than a single console, but if you have only one then the PS3 offers a lot for the money. This is especially true when it is a shared system set up for the whole family to use, not just for game play, but for all the other options available with the system. The Nintendo Wii is more economical and so is a PS2, but the PS3 is really offering some deals now that the PlayStation Network has come up.

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The PlayStation 3 has a Blu Ray player, which supports 1080p HD Resolution which makes your games look great! It also comes with a Cell Broadband Processor which can preform multiple tasks in sync, which is revolutionary technology. Alongside the Cell Processor, it has a RSX (Reality Synthesizer Video Card). The Cell Processor can also create graphics to take some of the workload away from the Video card so everything runs smooth. PLUS you get free online play. PS3 is better, but 360 has more games and a stronger player base.

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The PS3 is better in hard drive space. 360 elite 120GB PS3 160GB-320GB.

The online gaming is a matter of opinon. Xbox Live is more aggresive online (most of the players are shouting or swearing)If you want to know whats better hardware wise the PS3 is better than the 360 it can play blu-ray movies and has a quicker proccesor than the 360.

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It really depends on the person. The Xbox has more M-rated games, while the PlayStation has a wider selection of titles.

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Ps3 is definitely the best as it is a multimedia player and a games console, Xbox 360 is a good gaming system if that is all you wish to do with your console. The PS3s graphics are noticibly better. Although Xbox 360 was slightly cheaper upfront, in the long run it will cost you more as you have to pay for Xbox Live in order to play online. I personally have a PS3 so obviously I have to be biased but I think it is better!

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It depends what games you like. Halo is on Xbox 360 and not PS2. Singstar is on PS2 and not Xbox.

The Xbox is also out of production for some time and can only be purchased used or as a collectible item in new condition

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Xbox 360 is good and so is ps3, its a tough one, they both have good graphics, ps3 people will say a ps3 is better but Xbox 360 people will say it is better. online is free on ps3 but Xbox 360 has many good games such as Halo, Forza 3 and Gears of War. Its very hard but Xbox is better for gaming and better gameplay and PS3 is better with accessories i.e online search. Personally, I think the PS3 is better than the Xbox 360. Why?

On the Xbox 360, you have to pay for:

• Internet/Online
• Demos
• Xbox Live

While on the PS3, those three things are free. Sure, the PS3 is about 100 dollars more, but in the long run it saves you money. Plus, it comes with two games and has much better graphics.

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