I am going to change my dead mb next week- to another one that's the exact same kind- once I get the new one installed- what will happen- will I boot to windows or do I need to do something more

If the MBoard is exactly the same, including version, then you should have no problems. You should clear the CMOS and upon first startup immediately enter the BIOS screens to set values. Date, time, boot order, power scheme, integrated herdware to be Enabled/Disabled, etc. Save and exit. Should be good to go. All is dependent on the MBoard being the ONLY defective hardware.

whe you say clear the cmos do you mean remove the battery for 5 seconds? Also, will the mb come with a cd or anything that needs to do something to the bios? yes- it is exactly the same mb

I would doubt that it is exactly the same to the window's OS, the OS is very detailed. It most likely will work fine but you may have to do a few things even if the same revision level.

If it were me, I'd slap it together and try it, worry about it later. Most people ought to consider the creation of a ntbackup with system state just incase or be sure they have all the original media. Be warned that some OEM products may not load ever again. The OS media is linked to the bios or other system details.

Not sure you would need to clear the bios.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

5 seconds is probably not enough time to leave the battery disconnected in order to clear the cmos. There's usually a 'clear cmos' jumper on the motherboard for that purpose. But as already mentioned, it may not be necessary to clear it.

'Exactly the same motherboard' may not be enough. For example compaq, HP, emachine and maybe others will use the same model motherboards but their bios' are all 'branded' by their particular distributor. Swapping motherboards between those machines will give BSOD problems with XP.

DAVEINCAPS- SO WHAT DO I DO- will it have a cd with it or something?

The reason I suggested clearing the CMOS is because there may be previous settings that are different than what you need. Is the MBoard you are getting NEW or used? Using the clrCMOS jumper, if one exists, will immediately reset the CMOS to default settings. You then need to reet some values as needed. Removing the battery for a few minutes will usually work the same. DO NOT have any power to the board while performing the clr CMOS.

I see you are asking DAVINCAPS but I will respond also. The operating system is what DAVE was referring to. You would not get a OS disk with a MBoard.

Just to clarify things, where are you getting a replacement from? Is it an HP MBoard?