So my mobo is dead and I ordered a replacement (used),I have never done this and wanted to know if i can still keep all my information after the swap? will i have to swap the bios chip?

Are you 100% sure the board is bad & not something else? power supply or CPU, for example? The new board should be tested outside the case to confirm it's good, THEN installed in the case...there's no sense going thru the install hassle if the board is bad. Let it run for a bit to monitor the CPU temp in the BIOS. While you're there, run thru all the settings making sure to configure your CPU & RAM correctly (1:1 ratio). Check the AGP Aperture, RAM timings, Spread Spectrum, PCI/AGP, etc...all that good stuff. If you're happy, install it in the case. Connect the PSU & case wiring, but before connecting the floppy, CD, HDDs, etc, test the board again to make sure the wiring's correct & nothing is shorted out. If everything checks out, connect up all your drives. And unless you're replacing the board with the same model, you'll probably have to reinstall Windows using the "repair install" method. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...

jam FYI his previous thread: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...

Reading thru the other thread, it would appear that the CPU was damaged. It's possible that there's nothing wrong with the board. shinzantetsu, Did you use thermal paste when installing the HSF or did you install it "dry"? Are you sure you didn't install the HSF backwards? There's a notch in the bottom of the heatsink that MUST be positioned over the "step" in the CPU socket...if it doesn't make full contact with the core, the CPU could fry. Here's a pic showing what I mean: http://www.laray.com/build/heat4.jpg

I have thermal paste that I used. I think I did install it backwards a couple times...doh!