If I change motherboard can I still use the same harddrive?

[JerryPc]

Hey guys I'm pretty sure many have asked this question before, but it is 2013 so things might be different. My questions is if I upgrade my current motherboard and cpu can I still use the same harddrive and will I have all my files? I currently have a gigabyte motherboard and an AMD CPU. I am planing on changing to an Intel CPU. I'm still debating on which motherboard I should get. Any suggestions and any information is appreciated thanks.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If your motherboard is the exact same one..... or one with the same chipsets, LAN and other components, no problem. Otherwise it's likely to have loads of hardware conflicts. I'd suggest installing Windows over again, let it store your old OS in "Windows.old" and then go back and pick out what ya need if anything. Strongest Recommendation: ALWAYS install OS on it's own partition and never have to worry about this again.

 

[Calvin7]

You will need to reinstall the operating system because you have made major changes to the hardware. When you set the motherboard BIOS to boot from an installation DVD, you can just delete the old partitions and you can install on a new partition.

Because of the major changes to the hardware, you won't be able to boot up the operating system. Deleting partitions will cause the loss of all old files on the partition.

 

[dish_moose]

It can/has been done but save yourself a lot of frustration and start fresh. Even if the hardware was the same a fresh install will make your computer work better.
-Bruce

 

[JerryPc]

Thank You all for the feedback, everything was appreciated.

 

[Tradesman1]

With Win 7 it's actually pretty easy, there have been a couple dozen people here on the forums do it I joined about 6 weeks ago, (make a backup of all your data, just in case), then simply hook up the hardware and boot, Win will look at everything and load default drivers for it's storehouse and you are up, then run a registry cleaner to get rid of the old hardware references, download and install the latest BIOS and drivers from your new mobo's website and will prob have to reactivate Windows, a relatively simple process, have done it more times than I can remember, even going AMD hardware to Intel and vice-versa

 

[broomas]

If your motherboard is the exact same one..... or one with the same chipsets, LAN and other components, no problem. Otherwise it's likely to have loads of hardware conflicts. I'd suggest installing Windows over again, let it store your old OS in "Windows.old" and then go back and pick out what ya need if anything. Strongest Recommendation: ALWAYS install OS on it's own partition and never have to worry about this again.

 

[calebgriffin]

With Win 7 it's actually pretty easy, there have been a couple dozen people here on the forums do it I joined about 6 weeks ago, (make a backup of all your data, just in case), then simply hook up the hardware and boot, Win will look at everything and load default drivers for it's storehouse and you are up, then run a registry cleaner to get rid of the old hardware references, download and install the latest BIOS and drivers from your new mobo's website and will prob have to reactivate Windows, a relatively simple process, have done it more times than I can remember, even going AMD hardware to Intel and vice-versa

So If im going from an AMD CPU to an Intel CPU I dont need to a fresh install? How would I get rid of my old drivers?

 

[Tradesman1]

If Win7 will boot, it load the default drivers for the new board. Then update with the latest from the mobos website, run a good registry cleaner (Wise has a good free one).

 

[BowDust]

Use a laptop if you have one and transfer the files from your current pc you wish to keep after that switch out your parts and re install all drivers, bios, and windows then transfer the files back to the new pc (new parts). i suggest using a maleA to maleA usb drive (such as a insignia universal file transfer cable) and yes it does work between mac and pc. with pre installed software. then you may use the other parts without worry of missing files.

 

[3922277]

If your motherboard is the exact same one..... or one with the same chipsets, LAN and other components, no problem. Otherwise it's likely to have loads of hardware conflicts. I'd suggest installing Windows over again, let it store your old OS in "Windows.old" and then go back and pick out what ya need if anything. Strongest Recommendation: ALWAYS install OS on it's own partition and never have to worry about this again.

If you are 3 out of 5 stars on a tech scale, you can use the same hard drive with no problems. I have been a pc builder for over 30 years and have always used the same hard drive unless the customer wanted a bigger hard drive but I would image the old hard drive and reimage the new hard drive so they would not have to install all their software again.

 

[firerod1]

wouldn't you just be imaging all the specs from the current drive? dont you have to use sysprep to remove unique identifer numbers from the drive if your swapping components and want to use the same drive or is that only for preinstalled OEM windows machines?

 

[dish_moose]

I guess I'm from the do the fresh install camp. I always have the media for installing my previous software and I find now matter how many, or what kind of registry/driver cleaner you use, it is never as good as a fresh install.(IMHO) BTW I too have been building/working on computers for the past 30 years.
-Bruce

 

[Tradesman1]

A lot of us dinosaurs around, I started in 1980 on mainframes....it's pretty much however you want to approach it, I've got a drive I carry with me with Win7 on it (and a variety of apps) I've thrown onto probably 30 + rigs for troubleshooting and haven't had any problems with it yet

 

[dish_moose]

In our labs we did similar things - cloning an image onto 100+ machines but the original image was a clean install. For my personal machines I just like starting fresh. I'm not saying you can't do it, I just prefer not to.
-Bruce

 

[bikemannc]

A lot of us dinosaurs around, I started in 1980 on mainframes....it's pretty much however you want to approach it, I've got a drive I carry with me with Win7 on it (and a variety of apps) I've thrown onto probably 30 + rigs for troubleshooting and haven't had any problems with it yet

ok what would u make of upgrading my mobo, renewing my cpu (all 1151, but original was a Skylake, and replacement one is still Skylake), and still cannot post the mobo in case or outside case, have replaced all psu, cpu,mobo, fans, but my original mobo was a Gigabyte H110 and the upgrade is a AsusH270M .
Is my orginal Mobo affecting my non posting current upgrade?