Changing motherboard without re-installing windows

[chandymseb]

Hi all
I am planning to upgrade my motherboard in a few days. Will I have to re-install windows 10 after the swap? No other hardware is going to be changed. My old mother board is Intel H61 and the new one is Asus H61. What are the possible outcomes of not re-installing windows. Or will it work just by changing the drivers.

 

[Samer1970]

maybe you will need to change the lan/audi/usb drivers in case they differ thats all

 

[DillonJ3K]

According to windows, a new motherboard means a new pc altogether. You may get it to work but itll be buggy an uncertain. Only safe way is to fresh install windows.

 

[Colif]

Back up anything you can't afford to lose, and then try it and see what happens. Dpending on amount of changes between old and new boards it may works first time or crash and burn.

Win 10 may not activate, there is a troubleshooter to reactivate it after install. Microsoft revised their activation rules after the last upgrade so the motherboard restriction may not be a problem anymore.

 

[Samer1970]

Back up anything you can't afford to lose, and then try it and see what happens. Dpending on amount of changes between old and new boards it may works first time or crash and burn.

Win 10 may not activate, there is a troubleshooter to reactivate it after install. Microsoft revised their activation rules after the last upgrade so the motherboard restriction may not be a problem anymore.

nothing will "burn" lol

also , it is the same chipset H61 ..

 

[chandymseb]

But I am using an OEM version of Windows 8 which I upgraded to 8.1 and then to 10 using the free upgrade. But I have the windows 10 installer from Microsoft.com. Will refreshing the system work the same. Or can I use the system recovery and then upgrade it to Windows 10 again. Will it work?

 

[Colif]

ok, i was using wrong words, i wasn't talking literally. And I hadn't noticed the motherboard models...

 

[Samer1970]

But I am using an OEM version of Windows 8 which I upgraded to 8.1 and then to 10 using the free upgrade. But I have the windows 10 installer from Microsoft.com. Will refreshing the system work the same. Or can I use the system recovery and then upgrade it to Windows 10 again. Will it work?

OEM is for one motherboard only .. but you can try your luck because it is the same chipset .

give it a try

 

[Colif]

when you upgraded the licence to win 10 you got a digital entitlement to win 10. YOu can use that entitlement to reinstall win 10 as many times as you want on the computer. Now when you run the win 10 installer, and it asks for a key, click "Skip" or "I don't have a key" and win 10 will install and either reactivate itself on install or you will need to run the troubleshooter I mentioned before.

see Here

 

[Chicano]

With the same chipset, Windows is likely to boot without a problem.. so, try it and if it BSOD's, try the following:

With the Windows DVD or USB installer inserted, start the computer and run the Automatic/Startup Repair, open the Command Prompt window > insert the motherboard drivers disk > and type:
"dism /image:c:\ /add-driver /Driver:X:\ /recurse" (where X: is the mobo drivers disk drive) > Press Enter and wait while it does the job... it may take a while, and when it finishes type Exit and restart the computer, remove the Windows installer and mobo drivers disk. Windows will take longer than normal to boot, and may or not need reactivation... probably not with the same H61 chipset.

http://www.dowdandassociates.com/blog/content/howto-repair-windows-7-install-after-replacing-motherboard/