Change motherboards without reinstalling Windows 7!

LAN_deRf_HA · Jan 27, 2011

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 · Jan 27, 2011

saritayadav said:
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 · Jan 27, 2011

Mussels said:
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 :rockout:

Mussels · Jan 27, 2011

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 · Jan 27, 2011

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 · Jan 27, 2011

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 · Jan 27, 2011

saritayadav said:
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 · Jan 27, 2011

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 · Jan 28, 2011

Dave65 said:
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 :laugh:

stinger608 · Jan 29, 2011

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 · Jan 29, 2011

JrRacinFan said:
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!

sneekypeet said:
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 · Jan 29, 2011

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 · Jan 29, 2011

js01 said:
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 · Feb 6, 2011

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!!!

System Name	Obelisc
Processor	i7 3770k @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V
Cooling	H110
Memory	16GB(4x4) @ 2400 MHz 9-11-11-31
Video Card(s)	GTX 780 Ti
Storage	850 EVO 1TB, 2x 5TB Toshiba
Case	T81
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply	EVGA 850 T2 80+ TITANIUM
Software	Win10 64bit

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Dean Machine/2020 Ryzenfall
Processor	Intel 4790K/AMD Ryzen 3700X
Motherboard	MSI 1150 Gaming mATX/Gigabyte AORUS ELITE B550
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED/SilverStone AH240 AIO
Memory	16 gigs Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer/16 gigs G.Skill TridentZ NEO DDR4
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 1660 Super/Gigabyte GTX 1660
Storage	Crucial SSD 256 and 2TB spinner/Dual Samsung 980 Pro M2 NVME 4.0
Display(s)	Overlord 27" 2560 x 1440
Case	Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s)	On board
Power Supply	Seasonic modular 850 watt Platinum/EVGA T2-850 Titanium
Software	Windows 10 Pro/Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	COOLER MASTER HAF 932
Processor	INTEL I7 920 OC @ 4.20Ghz 1.326.volts
Motherboard	EVGA X58 SLI LE
Cooling	ULTRA CHILLTEC CPU COOLER
Memory	12 GB DDR3 CORSAIR RAM 1602 MHZ
Video Card(s)	5970 and XFX GTX 260 for physx
Storage	1TB 7200WD BLACK O.S// 2X180GB EXTERNAL
Display(s)	24 hp w2408h hd flat scree. 1920x1200 hdmi dvi vga support
Case	COOLER MASTER HAF 932 WITH COUPLE OF MODS
Audio Device(s)	ON BOARD.
Power Supply	ULTRA POWER SUPPLY 1000 WATT FULLY MODULAR
Software	WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE 64 BIT
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Change motherboards without reinstalling Windows 7!

LAN_deRf_HA

Mussels

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stinger608

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Mussels

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brandonwh64

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System Name	Firebird
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
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Cooling	Tt Water2.0 PRO (They use the same bracket as 3.0)
Memory	G.Skill TridentZ 2x8GB 3200 15-15-15-35 B-Die (@3333 ATM)
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Keyboard	Tt Challenger Pro (AVOID! Keys wear super fast)
Software	Win 10 Pro x64
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System Name	Daves
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3900x
Motherboard	AsRock X570 Taichi
Cooling	Enermax LIQMAX III 360
Memory	32 GiG Team Group B Die 3600
Video Card(s)	Powercolor 5700 xt Red Devil
Storage	Crucial MX 500 SSD and Intel P660 NVME 2TB for games
Display(s)	Acer 144htz 27in. 2560x1440
Case	Phanteks P600S
Audio Device(s)	N/A
Power Supply	Corsair RM 750
Mouse	EVGA
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Motherboard	Asrock Z790 Nova
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Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platinum
Software	Windows 11 x64 Pro
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Processor	19 9900k @4.7ghz
Motherboard	Z370 Gaming Plus
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Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance 3000 mhz DDR4
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Storage	4
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