Windows 10 Mobo Swap

[Buggu]

I am swapping motherboards. Should I wipe my SSD and reinstall windows, or will I be fine? (Just wondering if it's safe.)

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Clean install is best option , and if this Windows 10 install was an upgrade from 7 or 8 , you need a new license.

 

[ihog]

If it's not the same exact motherboard, I would reinstall Windows.

Technically, you don't have to. You can just uninstall all the drivers of the old mobo, install the new mobo, and install the new mobo drivers. But the safest bet is completely reinstalling Windows.

 

[thx1138v2]

Unless you are swapping to another copy of the the same mobo you will need to install the drivers for the mobo which means a new install since the new mobo probably won't work with the old mobo's drivers.

 

[joesavy86]

Ok, this can be a tricky question.
Are you swapping with the same model/brand of motherboard, or changing?

Same model/brand:
You should be able to swap the motherboard with little problems.

Changing model/brand:
I personally choose to reformat in that situation, most of the time.
With that said, it is not always necessary.
This biggest issue would be trying to boot into Windows.
You will probably some nasty blue screens, followed by a hard crash.
If you're comfortable updating and swapping drivers in safe mode, then you should be fine.
If you're not comfortable, then I'd suggest the easier route of formatting.

 

[Buggu]

Clean install is best option , and if this Windows 10 install was an upgrade from 7 or 8 , you need a new license.

How does one do this? Do I simply wipe the drive? If so, should I format it in any way? Do I just do a clean reinstall of Windows and then not install the drivers, and then remove motherboard and then install the new one?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

You will format and install , when you start up your new system.