[SOLVED] Want to upgrade motherboard and CPU, what will happen when I try to boot?

[caelum1999]

My machine is currently using an MSI Z87 G43 motherboard and an Intel i5-4670. I want to upgrade to a motherboard with a different chipset (ASUS strix z390 e and an intel i7-9700k.) What will happen after I make the hardware change and try booting? I have a retail version of windows and my digital license is linked with my Microsoft account. Will it even boot? Will I need to uninstall old motherboard drivers and reinstall new ones? I should mention that my copy of windows is one an SSD and my files are on a separate HDD.

 

[tennis2]

If the license is already linked to your MS account, then you're already headed in the right direction. My advice is to just do a clean install of windows for the new system.
Alternatively, you can do a SysPrep on the system before doing the hardware swap if you don't want to do a clean install.

BACK UP YOUR DATA before you do anything. Regardless of what method you use.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Windows would load fine license-wise and with the new hardware.
but you would want to do a fresh install to ensure the old chipset drivers were not interfering with the new build in any way. and any hardware support updates Windows may have implemented being used properly.

even though the OS will function, eventually you would more than likely get an "unregistered" message start to appear. the license would more than likely need to be removed and re-certified by Microsoft. i've been through a couple different systems with the same MS Windows 10 account and have only ever needed to update my account info by logging in with my MS account and identifying the new build as my system. this leads to the old setup being removed from your account and the new one being validated.

 

[caelum1999]

Windows would load fine license-wise and with the new hardware.
but you would want to do a fresh install to ensure the old chipset drivers were not interfering with the new build in any way. and any hardware support updates Windows may have implemented being used properly.

even though the OS will function, eventually you would more than likely get an "unregistered" message start to appear. the license would more than likely need to be removed and re-certified by Microsoft. i've been through a couple different systems with the same MS Windows 10 account and have only ever needed to update my account info by logging in with my MS account and identifying the new build as my system. this leads to the old setup being removed from your account and the new one being validated.

Okay, I may be mistaken as to whether my version of Windows is OEM or retail. When I originally got my computer in around 2013, I ordered it from Cyberpower PC with Windows 8.1 already installed. However, using slmgr /dli in command prompt it tells me that my version of windows 10 is retail. Did it somehow change with the free upgrade to Windows 10? If I do a fresh reinstall on a new motherboard will I still be able to activate windows 10 with my Microsoft account?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

an OEM Windows 10 installation would have had to come directly from CyberPower.
since your update from 8.1 to 10 was performed within Windows you would now have the Microsoft retail version.

as long as your current OS is registered to you, it will remain that way. if it has no specific user account tied to it, you should be able to sign-in with a Microsoft account and add your own.
go to Settings > Accounts > Your Info and see what options you have for signing in with a MS account.

to be sure the registration will continue through to the new setup you can contact MS support and describe the situation. they will give you the best route to take.