Does a new system require a reformat?

Irish_PXzyan · Mar 25, 2012

Well lads.

I'm just wondering will I have to reformat my system when installing a new MB, RAM and CPU?

I'm going from my current system to an Asrock Z68 1155 board, i5 2500k and Corsair vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz.

Do I have to reformat?

INSTG8R · Mar 25, 2012

Yep. Completely different hardware. Would just be an absolute headache trying to run your old for install.
Gotta start it clean and fresh for your fresh parts.

Did you manage to get it working?

Irish_PXzyan · Mar 25, 2012

Ahhhh flip!! It would be so handy if I could just merge it all together

Shame!

Sadly enough no :/ I've got my RMA number so I must organise them to send out a currier during the week and hopefully it will get sorted quickly!

white phantom · Mar 25, 2012

yep sadly its a reinstall/format, i had the exact same problem when i upgraded and thought a new bit of tech was dead on arrival (instant bsod) turns out just because i went from socket 775 to 1155 i had to reinstall windows and drivers e.t.c, runs perfect now

Completely Bonkers · Mar 25, 2012

NO

You don't need to reformat. "Uninstall" any HDD and chipset specific drivers BEFORE you move the HDD to the new platform.

Then you need to sysprep the HDD BEFORE you move the HDD to the new platform. When it shuts down DONT turn it on again until it is IN THE NEW mainboard.

Google sysprep. Save yourself A LOT OF TIME.

sneekypeet · Mar 25, 2012

I was just going to say, with Windows 7 and a bit of prep you can just swap hardware for the most part. If you want the best performance, i would suggest you re-install

Irish_PXzyan · Mar 25, 2012

Oh jayziz!

Hmm seems like a reformat would just be the easier way around it! A reformat is always a good thing anyway!

I suppose I may as well just reformat and start a new!
Thanks for the responses lads!

MxPhenom 216 · Mar 25, 2012

INSTG8R said:
Yep. Completely different hardware. Would just be an absolute headache trying to run your old for install.
Gotta start it clean and fresh for your fresh parts.

Did you manage to get it working?

Actually when I left my evga classified board and core i7 920 to what I have now it actually worked fine, but I planned on reformatting anyways so.

But yeah you should reformat anways for your fresh hardware.

qubit · Mar 26, 2012

sneekypeet said:
I was just going to say, with Windows 7 and a bit of prep you can just swap hardware for the most part. If you want the best performance, i would suggest you re-install

Yep, what sneeky said. When I moved from my E8500 system to my 2700K system, I simply let it boot up on the new mobo and Windows sorted everything out. The only thing I had to watch out for is that my old system had been running in SATA compatibility mode, while the new one was in AHCI mode and I wanted to use that mode rather than continue with compatibility. To prevent a blue screen, I put the new system in compatibility mode on the non-Intel disc controller and booted off that. I then installed the Intel AHCI drivers, connected the boot HD to the Intel controller and rebooted. Everything then worked fine.

Of course, you'll have to install the drivers for your new hardware, but otherwise Windows 7 migrates very well indeed. Forget the headaches that were common with XP when trying this.

As always though, for the cleanest install, you could reinstall everything fresh. In my opinion though, it works so well as it is, that it's not worth bothering with.

Finally, you should of course always have a backup of your data.

INSTG8R · Mar 26, 2012

nvidiaintelftw said:
Actually when I left my evga classified board and core i7 920 to what I have now it actually worked fine, but I planned on reformatting anyways so.

But yeah you should reformat anways for your fresh hardware.

Sure I have done it before as well. I just uninstalled all the "Intel hardware" and replaced it all with "Generic" Was a bit time consuming but it worked. But that was back in the XP days.

My general rule is I always buy a new hard drive when I do a new build then I can keep my old install and move all the important stuff back over and not have one of those "Oh Crap I forgot to save that!" moments.

I got lucky when I got my Caviar Blacks for this build really cheap and before the prices shot up. Probably paid as much for both of them as 1 would cost now.

Wrigleyvillain · Mar 26, 2012

The general rule of thumb for this is you may be able to get away without a new system install but you really don't ever want to...

Irish_PXzyan · Mar 26, 2012

Interesting stuff!
I might just chance it and see if all goes well?

I have a partition drive called Z:storage! It contains every driver and software I need and use for a new system!
MY OS is on the C partition of it's own and that's all that's installed onto it.

I might get lucky!

But I will reformat it if it doesn't migrate smoothly

System Name	The Metadis
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asrock B650 RS Pro
Cooling	MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R V2
Memory	32GB G-Skill Trident Z5 Neo 6000mhz CL32
Video Card(s)	Asus Tuf RX 7900XTX OC 24GB
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 2TB Gen4 nvme + Sabrent Rocket Pro 500GB Nvme Gen3
Display(s)	LG C2 42" 4K 120hz OLED
Case	NZXT H6 Flow
Audio Device(s)	Hifiman Edition XS - Ifi Zen DAC V2 - 7Hz x Crinacle Salnotes Dioko 14.6m Planar Diaphragm Drive IEM
Power Supply	Seasonic G12 GM - 850W 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Corsair M65 ELITE RGB Optical FPS Gaming Mouse (18000 DPI Optical Sensor)
Keyboard	Redragon K648 90% Wired Aluminium Mechanical - Rock-Solid Metal Board Built-in Noise Absorbing Foams
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	Windows 11 64-bit

System Name	Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling	TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory	2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage	970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s)	Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case	TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse	G502 Hero
Keyboard	G19s
VR HMD	Oculus Quest 2
Software	Win 10 Pro x64

System Name	The Metadis
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asrock B650 RS Pro
Cooling	MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R V2
Memory	32GB G-Skill Trident Z5 Neo 6000mhz CL32
Video Card(s)	Asus Tuf RX 7900XTX OC 24GB
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 2TB Gen4 nvme + Sabrent Rocket Pro 500GB Nvme Gen3
Display(s)	LG C2 42" 4K 120hz OLED
Case	NZXT H6 Flow
Audio Device(s)	Hifiman Edition XS - Ifi Zen DAC V2 - 7Hz x Crinacle Salnotes Dioko 14.6m Planar Diaphragm Drive IEM
Power Supply	Seasonic G12 GM - 850W 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Corsair M65 ELITE RGB Optical FPS Gaming Mouse (18000 DPI Optical Sensor)
Keyboard	Redragon K648 90% Wired Aluminium Mechanical - Rock-Solid Metal Board Built-in Noise Absorbing Foams
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	Windows 11 64-bit

System Name	White Phantom
Processor	i5 2500K @ 4.4ghz = 1.360-1.368 vcore
Motherboard	asrock p67 pro (not pro3)
Cooling	prolimatech megahalem with 2x nocuta in push pull (thanks to the 54thvoid) ;) , stock phantom fans
Memory	16gb Kingston hyper x ddr3 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus strix 970 ocd 1.5ghz core
Storage	240gb ssd , 1tb Western digital Black, western digital 320gb
Display(s)	samsung syncmaster p2450 via DVI @1080p 60hz
Case	White and blue NZXT Phantom (carbon fibred sides/door)
Audio Device(s)	onboard , philips AMBX pro speakers 80watts rms
Power Supply	Xfx750
Mouse	Rat 3
Keyboard	Act cheapo "gaming"
Software	windows 10
Benchmark Scores	world record for most amount of times machine has pissed me off ....

Processor	Mysterious Engineering Prototype
Motherboard	Intel 865
Cooling	Custom block made in workshop
Memory	Corsair XMS 2GB
Video Card(s)	FireGL X3-256
Display(s)	1600x1200 SyncMaster x 2 = 3200x1200
Software	Windows 2003

Does a new system require a reformat?

Irish_PXzyan

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

Irish_PXzyan

white phantom

Completely Bonkers

New Member

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

Irish_PXzyan

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

Wrigleyvillain

PTFO or GTFO

Irish_PXzyan

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Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
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Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
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Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
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Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
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