New MOBO New CPU Old HDD

[BigglezMcGee]

I installed my mobo (Sabertooth 990fx r2.0) and cpu (AMD FX 8350 BE) into my new case, plugged everything from my old case into this mobo. When I start my PC my mobo's Boot Device LED is solidly lit up red and if I don't go into the BIOS (BIOS works perfectly), I get an error saying windows can't start and asking to repair pc or boot normally. Now, if I try boot normally a Blue screen flashes quickly and the PC restarts. I think the problem is Windows 7 on the old HDD, but I'm a noob so I'd like help determining that. Could I plug my HDD back into my old case, start it up, then delete old hardware driver files and then plug the HDD into the new MOBO and it would start up fine? Or, do I have to reinstall Windows 7? Also, my old case/hdd/mobo/cpu came prebuilt (got it before I even started thinking about building/upgrading a pc)

P.S. Only boot device light is red and power light is green, all others are off. In BIOS, all of my hardware is detected so that means it isn't a compatibility issue, right? Oh, and I think I have a separate windows partition on my HDD, but I'm not sure. When I try to start normally wondows asks to do a repair then asks to do a system recovery. Dunno if that is useful info, but there it is.

 

[clutchc]

You are on the right track. The old Win7 installation set itself up based on the components it found on the original system, including the motherboard. Usually if the old and new MBs aren't too different, Win7 will boot with some difficulty. But in your case, I imagine the boards are night and day... and a different cpu to add to the confusion.

You can try uninstalling drivers, but there will be many you can't get rid of. The best bet for a clean installation with the new board/cpu, will be a fresh install of Win7. You can use the old system to save some important personal files first if you need to. Either way, you will need to re-license.

But a clean install of Win7 with your old OEM license will have other issues. You will be presented with a new installation that needs to be activated again within 30 days. (you will need your CoA Product code from the old case) When you go to do so, you will have a 50-50 chance of it going thru with no hitches. If it catches the fact that you are trying to use an OEM license on a 2nd machine (new MB), you will have to call an automated phone service to get it cleared. At that point you will again have a 50-50 chance of getting the license approved w/o having to talk to a rep. If that happens, just tell them your MB died and you had to replace it. Usually they will look the other way and give you a new license.

 

[Tradesman1]

Try booting to the Win OS disk and do a system repair

 

[BigglezMcGee]

You are on the right track. The old Win7 installation set itself up based on the components it found on the original system, including the motherboard. Usually if the old and new MBs aren't too different, Win7 will boot with some difficulty. But in your case, I imagine the boards are night and day... and a different cpu to add to the confusion.

You can try uninstalling drivers, but there will be many you can't get rid of. The best bet for a clean installation with the new board/cpu, will be a fresh install of Win7. You can use the old system to save some important personal files first if you need to. Either way, you will need to re-license.

But a clean install of Win7 with your old OEM license will have other issues. You will be presented with a new installation that needs to be activated again within 30 days. (you will need your CoA Product code from the old case) When you go to do so, you will have a 50-50 chance of it going thru with no hitches. If it catches the fact that you are trying to use an OEM license on a 2nd machine (new MB), you will have to call an automated phone service to get it cleared. At that point you will again have a 50-50 chance of getting the license approved w/o having to talk to a rep. If that happens, just tell them your MB died and you had to replace it. Usually they will look the other way and give you a new license.

I went ahead and reinstalled windows. everything is working fine and it seems the Windows key worked without a hitch. Man, I haven't been lucky lately with pc stuff, but this time it worked! Thanks for the advice and info, guys.

 

[clutchc]

Do you have the blue Genuine Microsoft emblem in the lower right corner of the Control Panel/System page?

 

[BigglezMcGee]

Do you have the blue Genuine Microsoft emblem in the lower right corner of the Control Panel/System page?

Yup.

 

[clutchc]

You're good to go then. Enjoy!