Is it possible to replace a faulty motherboard without reinstalling Windows 10?

[hbenthow]

If a motherboard is faulty, is it possible to replace it with the exact same model of motherboard without reinstalling Windows 10 (and without a high chance of any serious problems)? And would Microsoft allow the installation to be re-registered if it became unregistered in the process?

Also, if so, how would one go about installing BIOS on the new motherboard?

 

[rhysiam]

If you get the identical motherboard it shouldn't require a fresh Windows install. The reason an install is often required is because the motherboard includes a large number of devices. While Windows 10 does a decent job of coping with hardware changes, it has its limits. Often an entirely new (different) motherboard is too much to handle. But with an identical motherboard, all the drivers are the same and I would expect it all to just work.

Windows licensing might detect the hardware change. However if you've logged on using your Windows account and the linked the license, you should be fine to change the motherboard. You can read up on that here: http://www.windowscentral.com/how-re-activate-windows-10-after-hardware-change

 

[hbenthow]

If you get the identical motherboard it shouldn't require a fresh Windows install. The reason an install is often required is because the motherboard includes a large number of devices. While Windows 10 does a decent job of coping with hardware changes, it has its limits. Often an entirely new (different) motherboard is too much to handle. But with an identical motherboard, all the drivers are the same and I would expect it all to just work.

Windows licensing might detect the hardware change. However if you've logged on using your Windows account and the linked the license, you should be fine to change the motherboard. You can read up on that here: http://www.windowscentral.com/how-re-activate-windows-10-after-hardware-change

Thank you for that information. Does the same apply if one were to buy the exact same model of computer (with the same model of motherboard), and replace everything but the motherboard in the new computer with parts from the old one?

Also, how does one go about installing BIOS on a new motherboard? Or do they come with it installed?

 

[rhysiam]

Thank you for that information. Does the same apply if one were to buy the exact same model of computer (with the same model of motherboard), and replace everything but the motherboard in the new computer with parts from the old one?

Also, how does one go about installing BIOS on a new motherboard? Or do they come with it installed?

I updated my original message - I think you'd read and responded to my original one... which was less clear. Sorry about that!

Windows **should** boot just fine if the motherboard is replaced with an identical model. All the hardware is the same, so drivers should just work fine.

RE BIOS - yes, motherboards come with a BIOS installed. Without that, you couldn't even do anything with the computer at all.

It **should** just be a matter of physically mounting the new motherboard and all the hardware. Windows should boot just fine.
You may need to check your licensing. So before you start it's a good idea to make sure your digital license is linked with your MS account - see the article I linked to above.
But I don't expect you to have any other issues.

 

[hbenthow]

Thank you for that information. Does the same apply if one were to buy the exact same model of computer (with the same model of motherboard), and replace everything but the motherboard in the new computer with parts from the old one?

Also, how does one go about installing BIOS on a new motherboard? Or do they come with it installed?

I updated my original message - I think you'd read and responded to my original one... which was less clear. Sorry about that!

Windows **should** boot just fine if the motherboard is replaced with an identical model. All the hardware is the same, so drivers should just work fine.

RE BIOS - yes, motherboards come with a BIOS installed. Without that, you couldn't even do anything with the computer at all.

It **should** just be a matter of physically mounting the new motherboard and all the hardware. Windows should boot just fine.
You may need to check your licensing. So before you start it's a good idea to make sure your digital license is linked with your MS account - see the article I linked to above.
But I don't expect you to have any other issues.

I'm not actually in the process of replacing a motherboard at this time. It's just that I'm trying to find out what my options are in case I were to have a motherboard problem.

You see, I'm currently having some problems with BSODs and possibly a fan/cooler-related issue (my CPU gets rather hot at times, and it seems that my CPU fan doesn't speed up when the CPU gets hot, which may be the cause of the heat problem if the fan indeed doesn't speed up when needed as seems to be the case). I have another thread about that here on Tom's Hardware.

Suffice it to say that I very strongly hope that my motherboard isn't the problem (as that's pretty much worst case scenario), but created this thread just to know whether I'd have the option of keeping my current Windows installation (which I've put hundreds of hours of work into) if the worst case scenario (a faulty motherboard) were to be the case.

Thank you for the information.

 

[rhysiam]

OK, makes sense. Good luck getting the problem sorted and I wholeheartedly agree with you that I hope it's not the mobo!