Windows 7 OEM. New mobo, same chipset, same company. Can I switch without clean reinstall?

[TheSwordsEcho]

Pretty much like the title says. I have a new motherboard (ASRock Z77 Extreme 4) and I am looking to replace the old one in my system (ASRock Z77 Pro4-M). I have the OEM version of Windows 7 and I do not want to worry about doing a fresh reinstall since I will have to format my ssd which contains a lot of data I don't want to lose. I have three other places for storage, but I'm not sure how it would affect the pathways if I were to remove all of the wanted data from the OS ssd to my other ssd and hdd's and put that data back after the reinstall.

Is it possible just to boot from the Windows 7 disk and just do a repair so it will download the new drivers? Then would I have to contact Microsoft support to see if they will work with my activation key so it will work with the new mobo?

 

[popatim]

First off, if you dont want to lose your data then it needs to be backed up because any of your drives could die at any instant and you need to be prepared for that.

Now onto your problem, It may or may not work. OEM like HP,Dell... even if it does intitially work will eventually fail Genuine Advantage check once it compares the bios's motherbd model# with what its expecting to see. A system builders oem, like you would buy from Newegg when you buy system parts, might work if the drivers are compatible and I dont think you'd have an issue with GA. I cant recall a builders oem failing GA after a motherbd replacement repair.