Switching out mobo and CPU, do i need to reinstall OS?

[alhanelem]

I'm switching out my old mobo (G31 chipset) and old cpu (E8500) with a new mobo (Z68) and a new cpu (i5 2500k/3550K)

I've heard that you can get away with switching out the mobo with out having to reinstall the OS by running SYSPREP.
Is it possible for my case? I have windows 7 pro by the way.

I also have Acronis so i could make an image of my HDD partion, or would that not work since it would contain drivers from the old mobo?

 

[killersquirel11]

I think what will end up happening in your case is that it may not have the correct drivers for your chipset, it will default to the generic drivers. Then, the next time you boot in, it will probably go to Windows Update, get the right drivers, and all will be well.
Since you have Acronis, I'd recommend imaging it, just to be safe.

 

[nekulturny]

Do you have to, no. Probably not. Windows 7 is pretty forgiving when it comes to system changes, but its still a good idea to anyway.

 

[tivatar]

Should work... you might run into a few driver problems on the first few start-ups, but it should fix itself. There's always safe mode, Windows repair disk, Hiren's, etc should something go wrong where it won't boot.

Windows will probably have you reactivate because it flips out with new motherboards (they see everything). If MS asks what happened, the answer is "lightning fried my mobo and I was forced to upgrade." They haven't the last few times I've upgraded, but it's happened before.

 

[nekulturny]

Download this, no guarantees but it might help with the transition. You should always back up your data to prepare for the worse however.

http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

 

[alhanelem]

Thanks everybody, now i just gotta go install my sweet new hardware!

 

[apache_lives]

FRESH INSTALL

seriously dont use the old install with nice new components

also AHCI will probably make your rig BSOD anyhow and you DONT want to turn that off and loose more performance

 

[alhanelem]

well that didnt end well...
Ended up being forced to do a fresh install since it wouldn't start up even after i repaired win 7.
Gonna be a long day...

 

[nekulturny]

Yea, unfortunately thats the way it goes, usually its okay. Its a hell of a lot more forgiving than Windows XP, 98 and 95, but its still not perfect.