New mobo/CPU without windows reinstall ?

[Luer]

Hi All

I will be getting a new motherboard and Ivy Bridge chip next month, and I am wondering if formatting my HDDs is a necessity.To be precise, my question is: can I take out my master HDD from my current setup, pop it into the new rig, and have windows 7 boot up? If not, then is there a way I can retain all data on my current HDDs while moving to a new rig.

Thank you in advance (and sorry if this is a silly question).

 

[jaquith]

First the Ivy Bridge has been delayed until June/July and IMO don't be an early adopter and give it a couple months with at least one if not two post IB BIOS revisions.

Yes, you 'probably' can transplant a boot drive, but it depends on if there's any (F6) drivers. If there are then IMO do a full and complete re-install including reformatting and if an SSD a 'Secure Erase' and install the OS clean. If there are no (F6) drivers then like you did originally, you'll need to install e.g. Chipset, LAN, Sound, etc but it's best to use those listed on the OEM website.