This is a followup to my previous thread, Time for a New Motherboard?

First, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who participated in that thread. The discussion helped me make my decision. In the end, I went with my gut and bought a replacement motherboard. It was only $25 so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a loss if I was wrong.

The new motherboard did indeed solve the problem. I was able to get the computer to boot up and everything seems to be working correctly (aside from the fact that the Vista installation has malware issues). I didn't even get a complaint from Windows about activation.

Now I'm going to go back in time and share how this process went down for me, because I think it's kind of funny and could be helpful to others who face a similar situation.

So, upon making my decision, I searched online for the replacement motherboard (Asus P5LP-LE). A few options popped up, but I settled on one from serversupply.com. I was quite surprised at the price, only $25 and free shipping! I placed my order.

A few days later, the package arrived. It would sit there a couple of days until I would have time to do the work. I was kind of excited, since it would be the first time I had to replace a motherboard. I kept thinking about it until the day arrived.

When the day finally came, I opened up the package which contained the new motherboard and sat it off to the side. Then I took apart the computer, unplugged all of the cables from the motherboard, and removed it. I slid the new motherboard from its plastic and placed it alongside the old one. I proceeded to move the processor from the old motherboard to the new one.

When I removed the heat sink, I was surprised at how small the processor actually was. I think that was the first time I had seen a processor up close and in person. I removed the processor and secured it onto the new motherboard.

When I got ready to put the heat sink on, I noticed that there was no place to screw it into the new motherboard. I examined the old one and found that it had a little metal piece on the back side that had screw holes. I pried that piece off of the old motherboard and put it on the new one.

The only thing that was left to do now was to put the new motherboard into the case and hook everything back up. I carefully placed it into the case and attempted to slide it all the way in to line up the screw holes, but it wouldn't go into place.

Upon examination, I noticed the new motherboard had an LPT port that the old one didn't have. I looked on the back of the case to see if there was a way to make a hole for the LPT port. That didn't look like it would be an option, so I looked at the LPT port to see if I could find a way to remove it. I ended up just maiming it to get it out of the way so I could finish the job.

After hooking everything up, I was excited to see what would happen when I turned it on. I pushed the power button and that familiar blank screen with the fans blowing was all I got. I turned it off, opened up the case to check the connections. The main power connection was not all the way in. After fixing that, the computer did display something when I turned it on!

But wait, this is a Compaq computer and I am seeing an HP logo screen! As it turns out, there are multiple versions of the Asus P5LP-LE, and I got the wrong one. It doesn't seem to matter, though. Windows is not complaining about it yet. The boards are essentially identical. The only difference is the BIOS and the LPT port, which I think Windows did notice and install a driver for when I first booted it.

Interesting. That's a cheap motherboard

I bought one for $40 dollars the other week and it's now running a FX6300 6-core doing some prime number searching.

What type of CPU has your machine got ?

The processor is a 3.2ghz Pentium 4 with HT.

The case is standard, but the motherboard didn't come with any of the extra pieces since it is refurbished.

I booted up this machine today to try to deal with the malware and now Windows is saying the key is invalid I'm guessing the board has a serial number or something that Windows checks against the key and activation to make sure it is still valid.

I wish it would have alerted me before the grace period expired. It won't let me do anything now aside from try to get me to pay for a new license. Oh well, I'll just have to explain the situation to them and see if they let me reactivate. The FAQ says that replacing a dead motherboard is allowed for reactivation of OEM Windows.

run slmgr /rearm as admin.

Extends the grace period, limited usage, good as a quick temporary fix.

Yeah, if more than the MB was dead, it was a surge, or your PSU kicked it. If you haven't replaced the PSU, I'd suggest doing that. And getting a UPS if you don't already have one (and if you have one and it was hit by a surge, maybe it too, as it let the surge through....)