stinger608
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Solved Do I need to get a new OS if I change my motherboard and CPU (OEM Win 8.1) solved Will I need to reinstall windows after changing motherboard? If I Change Motherboard Do I Need To Reinstall Windows 10 Reply Anonymous December 12, 2012 at 5:31 pm Omg, where was this article 3 days ago. 2010-12-9 Replace motherboard without reinstalling Windows. By steeve 13 replies Nov 9, 2010. Post New Reply. I want to replace my motherboard without reinstalling windows (xp non-oem). Reinstall any. A clean install with the new motherboard is safest. It's possible that Win7 would detect the hardware change and automatically come up with suitable drivers, but I wouldn't count on it. However, I was able to do a major swap once in Vista with the aid of the 'sysprep' utility. Sysprep is intended for making a standardized custom installation of Windows for deployment across many computers. This is something an IT admin would use to speed up the process of setting up many computers with specific software and settings. Whether you have Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7, the process for prepping your puter for a motherboard upgrade is exactly the same. What you need to do is to set the hard disk controller driver in Windows to the standard, plain vanilla Windows version.
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Okay, maybe this has been done to death, the thread type anyhow.
With that said, does anyone know of a way to change the motherboard in a system running Windows 7 without reformatting, and reinstalling Windows 7?
The system I am referring to is a system that is getting a motherboard upgrade. Of course it is a different chip set, so naturally Windows will want to install different drivers in order to operate correctly.
Back in the day, one could completely delete the 'ENUM' entry in the registry of Windows XP, shut down, change the motherboard, boot and away ya go. I have not found anything solid with Windows 7 however, and wondering if anyone has knowledge of this, or knows where to go to find knowledge on this.
Thanks in advance to all TPU members
With that said, does anyone know of a way to change the motherboard in a system running Windows 7 without reformatting, and reinstalling Windows 7?
The system I am referring to is a system that is getting a motherboard upgrade. Of course it is a different chip set, so naturally Windows will want to install different drivers in order to operate correctly.
Back in the day, one could completely delete the 'ENUM' entry in the registry of Windows XP, shut down, change the motherboard, boot and away ya go. I have not found anything solid with Windows 7 however, and wondering if anyone has knowledge of this, or knows where to go to find knowledge on this.
Thanks in advance to all TPU members
Active5 years, 1 month ago
I'm going to be upgrading my motherboard, CPU and memory very soon. Everything else about the computer is staying the same, but I'll be changing from a core 2 duo CPU to an i5 2600K, plus changing to a totally different motherboard, etc.
I don't want to have to reinstall Windows 7 when I do it - what do I need to do to make sure the install goes smoothly? Should I uninstall old drivers, etc, before I swap out the parts?
studiohack♦11.4k18 gold badges81 silver badges114 bronze badges
ColenColen5074 gold badges10 silver badges15 bronze badges
7 Answers
Windows will almost certainly install drivers for the new hardware automatically with no trouble, making the change easy. You will need to remember that substantial hardware changes will result in Windows deactivating (to prevent someone copying the disk image to many different machines). The rules by which a significant hardware change are detected are somewhat complicated but known, see here.
On never versions of Windows activation after a significant hardware change works just like activation of a new install - it will automatically attempt to activate over the internet. Internet activation will fail if the license has previously been activated too frequently*. If this happens, you will need to call the 1-800 number that Windows will give you and speak with an activation rep, who will manually give you an activation code, generally without any questions asked.
(*) for Windows XP this was more than once in the last 120 days. I believe this has changed in Vista/7, I do not know what the new rule is.
Sathyajith Bhat♦53.6k30 gold badges159 silver badges254 bronze badges
jcrawfordorjcrawfordor14.9k5 gold badges31 silver badges49 bronze badges
There's one important thing not covered so far.
Activation.
![Windows 7 Change Motherboard Without Reinstall Sysprep Windows 7 Change Motherboard Without Reinstall Sysprep](/uploads/1/2/4/7/124791841/385806570.png)
WGA/WAT is going to complain if you change too much hardware. Nobody knows what the threshold is, but if you cross it, Microsoft support has been known to be fairly lenient in manually allowing you to re-activate regardless.
Hello71Hello71Sysprep Download
7,4023 gold badges36 silver badges43 bronze badges
Windows may boot with the new board out of the box, but it is possible that you will have to massage it go get it to work. If it does work, you should still update all your drivers from the motherboard's web site. If it doesn't the easiest way to do it is re-install and pick 'upgrade': This will keep all your programs intact, but replace the hardware drivers and any other faulty registry settings. Even after the upgrade, update your drivers.
If you try to upgrade to your same OS, but are not given the option (grayed out), it is likely because your original disk is older than your current service pack level. In that case, you will need to slip-stream your original OS disk to add your service pack level or newer. You can search how to slip-stream here as it comes up often.
KCotreauKCotreau24.8k5 gold badges41 silver badges66 bronze badges
Acronis Universal Restore should be able to do it.
SharkenSharken
As long as the HDD housing Windows is left untouched you should be fine.
Bring in all your new parts and hook them all up. Windows 7 should automatically detect some new hardware and find/install the drivers for you. If not, go to the vendor's website and look for the downloads page. They usually have the drivers there.
n0pen0pe8,64716 gold badges60 silver badges98 bronze badges
Use your windows 7 disk and do an upgrade install, then after it tries to restart, turn it off. Change all hardware you want to change (ie mobo cpu ram vid card whatever) then boot into that drive and continue setup. You will need to re activate windows...
I did it, went from am3 880gx mobo/cpu to 4770k z87 no problems
adamadam
I'm not sure how old this question is, but if you want to move your hard drive (with win 7 on it) to a new machine, or want to install a new mobo with out re-installing windows 7 again you can easily do it by using. Sysprep. This is a new tool from Win 7.
From the website ' The System Preparation Tool (sysprep) is a Windows 7 utility that can be launched from the The System Preparation Tool (sysprep) is a Windows 7 utility that can be launched from the command line and used to configure Windows, readying it for a change of host hardware. This command line and used to configure Windows, readying it for a change of host hardware. This can be used for running Windows on a new motherboard or even transferring the hard disk can be used for running Windows on a new motherboard or even transferring the hard disk drive into a completely new environment.'
here is where I found it
Win 7 Sysprep
good luckSullyakaDirty ol Dog
Windows 7 Change Motherboard Won't Boot
Jeff SullivanJeff Sullivan