I am planning to update my system's processor, motherboard and RAM. Should i reinstall linux after the change or is there an alternate method??

Thanks in advance for your reply
firewiz

Unless you've changed your processor type (from Intel or AMD to something else like S360, Spark, etc.), and you aren't downgrading from a 64-bit system to a 32-bit one, and your drives will all work with your new drive controller, then you should be able to just plug you old drives into the new system and boot.

You should check to see if your new CPU needs some firmware for optimum performance, but most of that firmware is distributed with the kernel, and loaded automatically when needed.

<edit>
You didn't mention video changes. If you've changed your video system, you may need to install a driver for the new video hardware. But, if you're using version 4 of the X-server, the "no xorg.conf" detection will usually find a usable driver for you.
</edit>

it depends on WHAT you update them too
most of the time ? you might not need to do a full reinstall . Just update proprietary drivers and configure some *.conf files

but ( as PTrenholme stated) very MAJOR changes ? you might need to reinstall

I am planning to upgrade my existing Intel core2 system to one of the intel i-series. And a P4 system to core2.
As for video, i ll just be using the on board video card.

If it helps any:

I compile my own kernel, and pretty specifically for my hardware.

A year or 2 ago, I replaced/upgraded my motherboard, CPU, RAM, video cards, from:

a socket 478 motherboard, Intel P4 single-core CPU, 512 or 1Gig of whatever the RAM was, and a GeForce MX440 AGP card,

to:

a socket 775 motherboard, Intel Core2 dual core, 4Gig of new RAM, and two PCI-E nvidia cards.

Basically I replaced everything but the box itself, and the IDE hard drives. The drives went back onto the same relative IDE connectors on the new board. OS was Slackware 11.

I was pleasantly surprised that after hooking everything up and turning the machine on, it booted up pretty much as it usually would; I do not recall any particular thing that was really borked or that went wrong. Of course, the next thing I did was rebuild my kernel to better suit the new hardware, RAM quantity, etc. but all in all, no real issue.

EDIT: P.S. - booting a 'generic' kernel will lessen the likelihood of big issues upon reboot in the new hardware; of course, stuff like new networking hardware (NIC, wireless..) for example, it may not work right away without some fiddling and/or editing network config and/or installation of an out-of-tree driver if necessary. A generic kernel will also decrease the likelihood of framebuffer problem (blank console) or unsupported video card in the new machine, vs a kernel that was previously custom-made specifically for your old hardware.

My point re video still holds: Unless the "on board" video chip-set is from the same vendor as the chip-set in your current system, you'll need to use a driver specific to the chip-set you use. If you have your xorg.conf file pointed to the incorrect driver, you may end up looking at a black screen on your upgraded system. Check the specifications of your current chip-set and the chip-set used by your new mother board(s), and make sure you have a driver that will work on you system's drive.

I understand that the graphics card can be a problem. And its a problem i have face too many times. I am pretty comfortable with the black n white text screen. So as long as i get a login of some sort... i am on familiar grounds.What i really hate, is to boot in recovery mode.

So as long as i am using a generic kernel (which i am using) i should be having no problems booting up even with a completely new processor like Core 2 in place of P4??

Is there a way to reinstall just the kernel?? In case there was some problem?? Will a simple kernel upgrade do the job?????

With a generic x86* kernel that matches your architecture (such as x86 or x86_64) you should have no problem booting up because of your new processor.

Yes, you can rebuild and/or re-install just the kernel. Procedure will vary slightly depending on which distro you're doing this on, but the short answer is: yes - in case of some problem, you can rebuild/reinstall the kernel.

But if using a generic kernel of fairly recent vintage, you shouldn't need to; it's usually more whether you want to - unless you need some device support that you don't have, or some new features of a newer kernel, or some problem.

Well... the linux installation in my P4 system worked flawlessly with the core2 system.... I just love linux