HTPC rebuild suggestions please

[twotabtess]

I built an HTPC with BYTV installed and had good results through the years. My PSU started whistling a death tune to it's PC Chip's M825G w/Sempron 2800+ and last rights came soon after.
A relative brought the MB to an IT tech school and have the students do failure analysis I guess. The conclusion: MB bad, processor still good. The students decided not to just replace the MB, but build a new system. They came up with and put together a PC with a 500 W PSU, ASUS M3A78-EM, 4 GB DDR2 800 RAM, AMD Athlon Dual core, 64 X2 6000+ or 3.1GHz 89Watt and a WD Caviar 500GB 7200rpm SATA 3.0gb's. They reinstalled my XP home license.
I am puzzled as to what components from the previous unit can or should be interfaced. I drive pooled to 3 hard drives: two WD 200GB ide; one with XP and BYTV installed and a WD My Book 500GB usb drive. Graphics; ATI 9800 allInWonder, Creative 7.1 sound SPdif Optical out, capture ATI HD wonder 650 and use a Motorola HD 6400 comcast box and DVI input to 42" Plasma.
All pooled Hd drives contain my collection movies etc. I think I will try to migrate the movie media off the original "C" drive to another than format to remove the OS and other software as the new build has XP reinstalled. This means BYTV and all other apps will have to be reinstalled. I'm just not sure if this is the way to do it.

Any help would be appreciated thanks.

[SmokeWatcher]

Did they replace the MB with the same model or is it different? If it's the same you can simply use the existing OS. You can also try keeping your original OS and use it with your new MB...it's not easy to migrate it over...but it can be done without having to re-install everything. I've done it, and it worked most of the time. Remember to backup anything not replaceable first!

The procedure is here...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824125

[Mistergq]

My first suggestion: open the box Open the hood and see what you have. At least, you want to know how many PCI, PCIe and other ports you have on the motherboard. That will also help us answer what cards can be recycled from your last system.

With regards to your tour IDE, I would install them in an external case with a fan. My experience is that Sata and IDE don't mix well together. But that could just be me. Since I switched to 100% Sata, things have been a lot smoother in my new box.

I would also do a fresh install of BTV and what ever other programs you want.

You should be able to definitely use both of the ATI tuner cards. The question is do you have a 3rd PCI port. If you do, you can plug the Creative labs card in. But I would first check to see what audio you have on the motherboard. Many of the new motherboards are 5.1 or 7.1 audio. Also, the other question is do you watch live tv through that computer, and if so what type of audio system. If you are not using a 7.1 audio system, then you really don't need that card installed.

Hope that helps.

Good luck. As much as I hate when a computer fails, I love the adventure of a fresh new start!

[twotabtess]

Thanks fellow HTPC buffs. I see what you mean. I had a nice ATI 9800 Pro AGP, but no agp slots. And did have trouble using IDE with SATA. I transferred recordings with a 500G MyBook.