How to change the MB without having to reinstall windows ???
 

I am going to replace my Sandy Bridge board soon so, i do not want to reinstall windows or any thing like that.
i want to do it as if i am upgrading my GPU. any ideas how ??

i'm sure windows will recognise the new board and install relevant drivers automatically, (just install any specific mobo drivers that come with it if needed)

you may even have to re-auth your windows key with M$, if its an OEM key, ur buggered!

1st. you need to install the correct driver that match to your board
2nd. it should be ok but i dunno i never do that, technically your new board will run with your old os

general user i.e some small time gaming, email, browsing etc, no need to reinstall OS unless it doesn't play with new mobo

Serious gamer, or work computer = Definately recommend a new install to prevent any untimely BSOD's


personally, i wouldn't fit a new mobo without reinstall (unless its a direct same replacement)

Sometimes that works / sometimes it doesn`t. If the actual chipset changes then you prolly can`t.

If you're using the same chipset on the new one, then no reinstall is necessary.
If you're using a similar chipset, then you're probably still ok, just a driver update.
Different chipset altogether, then you might need to reinstall windows. It might help to install the chipset drivers for the new mobo before you remove the old, as micropage7 said. This is never guaranteed however, so you just need to try it.

And finally, make sure you have a backup of all your data and that includes all the crap sitting on your desktop!

Suggestion
 

Before you turn off Windows for the last time prior to changing MBs, go to Device Manager and delete everything you can, with no mercy, especially the items under "System devices".
Then next time you boot (after changing MBs hopefully), Windows will re-install everything again, but this time according to the new hardware.
Works quite well... Good luck!

my board is P8P67 Pro and i think i will replace it with the same one but B3 revision !!
assuming that it wont work, can i install a new OS with the Same settings on the old one ??
i do not know how.

Have a search through the forums, this subject has been discussed to death multiple times.

You can change mobo without reinstalling windows, many people have done it before with no problems, but it's not best practice.

that should work fine, as nothings going to change as far as the drivers are concerned - the hardware is 100% the same, just minus that physical performance degrading flaw.

Especially if you used the two unaffected 6Gb ports, you will have no problems at all.

I can vouch 110%, no issues with doing this. You might have to go into safe mode if using Windows XP, but that's about all.

There is no issue for me using the same windows instalation with my CPU/mobo/ram upgrade it was from a 965P to P67 B3 with no problems.

its because intel use the one driver for all their chipsets. windows knows what to do with the new controller.

the only downside is that ofc, you end up with leftover bloat - drivers are installed for devices that windows isnt aware are gone, so it doesnt remove them. this can slow down startup, bloat the registry a bit, etc etc. it wont cause crashes or serious performance problems, however.


Now changing to entirely different sata controllers (say, intel to AMD) is another story, things can go weird there.

What about installing the drivers for them on the old mobo and then booting up on the new one - could that work properly, avoiding blue screens etc?

you only need the SATA driver 99% of the time, but yes it can work. it just ends up with leftover bloat.


Since i actually organise my drives properly, its often quicker and easier for me to install a new OS, than to fart about with this stuff.

Indeed, quite. It's always new mobo = new Windows for me too.

I have a question... why do people in general avoid reinstalling their OS... are they afraid they're forget some setting,password etc, are they too stupid to make a partition for their data, because I can't see sloth kick for an operation that takes an evening or so(including installing ,possibly newer,programs).
In your B2->B3 case ,it will decrease to some extent the stability,but unless your a power-user you probably won't notice

because OS's get bogged down. they slow over time, due to leftover drivers, files, DLL's, registry entries, and useless programs.


it takes me less than 2 hours to reinstall my OS, drivers, commonly used apps and games. i could do it in under an hour without the games.

I've found that windows 7 and vista behave perfectly in most cases even if going from amd to intel or vice versa. As long as you uninstall the old drivers and install the new one's your fine.


now back in the day on xp....yeah have to reinstall that or it will simply refuse to run right.

as i said above, it can often work fine - it just increases that hidden bloat.

I do this all the time....You really don't need to do a reinstall until you switch your mobo 3 times...as MS just won't let you do more than 3 mobo changes before you need do a reinstall.
And Ive gone from an Intel 945 to an AMD 770 Sure you may get a few BSOD but where theirs a will there is a way...

The only hard part is if you have S3 problems as it can take awhile to track that stuff down

How do MS restrict this? Are you thinking of product activation? If so, just do a phone activation when the activation message comes up.

When you install a new mobo without using a cloning program windows will REARM and it will only allow 3 REARMS before you must reinstall (OEM anyways)