My new Motherboard brand

[PcGAmeR22]

I sent my old dell computer to be fixed and i recieved a call from the
store that i bought my pc from
they told me that they replaced my motherboard and replaced my case
Old specs :
Dell vostro 230 mini tower
Dell 775 motherbaord
they replaced my old motherboard by an asrock 775 motherboard
luckly my intel e7500 is still alive so is my old 9400 gt
is the new brand a good brand or should i call him and tell him to put a
different one in

[Paul]

The Dell hard drive has a recovery partition. If you ever want
to restore the OS to factory conditions, you can use that recovery
partition. The Dell OEM OS should only install, if a Dell motherboard
is detected. (The BIOS SLIC table, is how the OEM OS knows it is
to activate automatically.)

If you put an Asrock motherboard in its place, then you'll have
future problems with OS restoration. It might require installing
Windows again, using the license key on the computer case sticker,
to make it work. The license key on the sticker, is not the same
as the restore partition license key.

You want to "write down" the license sticker value, before parting
with the computer case. That license key is useful if the OS
needs to be reinstalled. You should not let them keep the
old computer case, until you've recorded the license key value for
the future.

Before taking the computer home from this "repair", be absolutely
certain you understand what they've done to the OS, and whether
anything they've done, affects your future usage of the computer.
Ask them how they got Windows to run, with the Asrock motherboard
present, and if at some future time you need to reinstall Windows,
what they used to do the reinstallation. Perhaps they should give
you a CD with a copy of the OS they used, so you can reinstall
the OS if needed, some day in the future. If they're misleading
you on the details of this, you may find you'll need to go back
to them, pay another $200, to have the OS put back. Make sure you
understand what they've done, and insist it be done right, before
you leave.

Don't leave the store, without physical possession of the sticker
on the Vostro case, or at least write down the numbers/letters
on the sticker.

*******

The computer case would likely need to be changed, because the
new motherboard doesn't fit in it.

But when I look at this picture, the motherboard layout looks pretty
conventional (microATX). I would question them, as to why the computer case
needed to be changed. The Asrock motherboard likely has the same
outline as this motherboard does. Only the front panel header pins
might be different, and a wire assembly can be re-wired if that
is the case. (Dell uses 2x5 with four pair cable harness - the Asrock
could use something different, line a 1x4 for computer speaker etc.
You can rewire or re-pin to fix this, if you're good at repairing
computers.)

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos230/en/sm/MT/sysbd_diagram.htm

*******

Asrock motherboards range from good, to ones which should be
labeled "not for noobs". I have an Asrock LGA775, which
required considerable experimentation, to make it work.
(The clock generator cannot be adjusted, because the wrong
code is in the BIOS.) I ended up, using a hacked BIOS from a
German web forum, to get the most from my Asrock motherboard.
So the boards vary as to how good they are.

You would need to mention the model number of the Asrock
motherboard, and "google" the model number, to get more info
on how good it is. Asrock hardware design can be decent, but
sometimes their BIOS design efforts are pitiful. (They release
many BIOS updates, without fixing the bugs the users want them
to fix.)

Paul

[Eidelmaim]

seeing how you had to have a new motherboard installed and it is most
likley using a different chipset... i ran into the issue of the OS
having to be reinstalled... to ge around having to buy a new license you
can call microsoft.. and this does work, i have used it several times
before... tell them you have replaced the motherboard in your computer
because it went bad and windows will not activate... DO NOT tell them
that you have a new case, they will tell you its a different computer...
you8 do this and 7 times out of 10 they will give you a new license key
over the phone and you dont pay for it. make sure they understand its
the SAME computer but with a new motherboard with a different chipset
than the previous one.