Change motherboards without reinstalling Windows 7!

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I just did this with my sandybridge upgrade. All I had to do was go into msconfig and uncheck everything from startup, reboot twice, and that was it.

 

[Mussels]

without reinstalling Windows motherboards change not possible..

it is quite possible. i've done it dozens of times.


I dont really recommend it however, better to have a fresh install of windows so you dont get all sorts of leftover junk (old drivers etc)

 

[stinger608]

it is quite possible. i've done it dozens of times.


I dont really recommend it however, better to have a fresh install of windows so you dont get all sorts of leftover junk (old drivers etc)

I agree, however what I will try to do first I guess is restore the image to the single 1tb drive, and run driver sweeper to eliminate the current drivers. Will probably run CCleaner and JV Power tools after rebooting.

Thanks a ton to everyone that has made some great comments on this

 

[Mussels]

well driver sweeper and its kind dont clear out all the leftovers, its not going to clear out leftover network drivers, or SATA drivers or anything like that.


It works, but it adds that bit of extra bloat - meaning you'll have to format sooner anyway, to make it all fresh n shiny.

 

[brandonwh64]

I have a copy of windows 7 on a 160GB hard drive that i have swapped from atleast 5 diffrent systems and not once had to reinstall.

It went from: 775>785G>P55>GF6100>740G>Whats next? LOL

Still running strong with no driver errors.

 

[lnd2288]

good morning-i had done it in the past but my pc wasnt stable. i would get random freeze ups. i was too cheap at da moment did not want to purchase a new O.S. lol at the end i just went along and bought for my own sake.

 

[Formula350]

without reinstalling Windows motherboards change not possible..

I admit, I didn't read eeeevery post before replying... BUT Saritayadav, had you read at least 1/2 of the first page, you would have seen it is VERY possible, and very easy! (as Mussels said)

 

[Dave65]

It is very doable but id never do it..I want a fresh install because if something creeps up down the road you will always wonder if that is the cause.

 

[stinger608]

It is very doable but id never do it..I want a fresh install because if something creeps up down the road you will always wonder if that is the cause.

Great point Dave, and that is what I am trying to explain to this fellow. However, he really does not want to reformat, and have to install a bunch of applications, programs, games, etc...

The good thing is, he is backing all of his pictures, user info, and other important things up just in case.............Hmm, makes me think it should be reformatted anyhow

 

[stinger608]

Well for tonight, I was able to change the drive from his Raid to the single drive. I ran an image and then changed drives and Bios settings and then restored the image on the single drive.......So far so good. Tomorrow I am changing the motherboard.........Wish me luck guys LOLOLOL

 

[niko084]

Don't even need to go through all those steps. Once you got into safe mode,windows 7 will rebuild it's drivers automatically. Boot normally and then install chipset drivers if not already in.

Edit:
One thing though, it gets hectic with RAID and you will NEED to reinstall/rebuild the array. Only circumstance where you will find driver conflicts.

Edit2:

See edit 1 peet.

He is right here, Windows 7 does a fantastic job of dealing with that and it's about time!

I just dont like taking the chance of even having the old drivers to trip things up. Only reason I posted the longer version

Also a good point, have a backup or be comfortable doing it.
I am yet to have an issue doing it, even with a raid *as long as it was Intel to Intel* with windows 7.

 

[js01]

I have done this a few times most recently with my sandy bridge upgrade and have never had any problems with it, just uninstall the basic gpu and chipset drivers first, and you don't even have to do that.

I also installed a fresh copy on another partition just to have for a backup and the performance was exactly the same, so I really don't believe it when people say you need to do a fresh install to get more performance out of your new hardware.

 

[stinger608]

I have done this a few times most recently with my sandy bridge upgrade and have never had any problems with it, just uninstall the basic gpu and chipset drivers first, and you don't even have to do that.

I also installed a fresh copy on another partition just to have for a backup and the performance was exactly the same, so I really don't believe it when people say you need to do a fresh install to get more performance out of your new hardware.

Yea, I checked his system out before making the image install. Of course I just changed the hard drive this evening, but Windows 7 did install some drivers and prompted me to restart, which I did, and after that I didn't see anything odd or a performance hit. Tomorrow I will change the motherboard. Before I do, I think I will go in and do a complete driver uninstall using Driver Sweeper and see what happens.

 

[stinger608]

whoops, forgot to update this thread LOL.

Booted into safe mode, did a "driversweeper" and then ran CCleaner and JVPowertools to rid the OS of any and all drivers. Shut the system down, installed the new motherboard, chip, and ram.
Fired up the system, and installed all new drivers. Not one single problem with the OS at all. Everything ran just fine. Customer was tickled shitless that we didn't have to do a format and reinstall of the operating system.

Thanks to everyone that responded and gave me awesome ideas for getting this job finished!!!