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Step-By-Step: Upgrade Your System With a Motherboard Swap

Insert a new motherboard to revitalize your PC.

Stan Miastkowski

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1. Remove the cards and cables

Turn off your PC and unplug it from the wall. Disconnect the mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer, and any other external cables. Remove the PC's cover and look at what you need to remove and disconnect to reach the motherboard. In some cases, you'll have to remove a hard drive or other hardware.

Use an antistatic wrist strap according to the manufacturer's directions while working under your PC's hood.

Remove the screws holding add-in cards (A), carefully remove the cards, and lay them on a clean, flat surface. If your new motherboard includes features such as a LAN connector or integrated sound, put the boards you won't be reinstalling aside.

Label each cable with masking tape and write down what it connects to. Unplug the power connector (B), floppy-drive cable, and EIDE connectors (C). Note which cable connects to the primary EIDE connector and which one goes to the secondary.

Finally, unplug the small connectors attached to the front-panel switches and LEDs, as well as any other cables connected to the motherboard.

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