Windows reinstall after motherboard change

ak_au

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Sep 18, 2014
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I am planning on changing my motherboard and cpu from an amd fx 6300 with an asus m5a97 Rev 2 to an amd fx 8350 with the msi 970 gaming motherboard. What is the process of 1.) replacing asus drivers with MSI drivers and 2.) is a windows reinstall needed or will it work just fine

Thanks
 
Solution
Windows will detect the motherboard has changed and will ask you to reactivate.

Beyond that the driver issue can be solved two different ways:

Some people will say go through and delete everything Asus related and install all the necessary MSI drivers.

I advocate for completely starting fresh and reinstalling Windows to minimize any chance of driver conflicts and weird software bugs from changing mobos.
Windows will detect the motherboard has changed and will ask you to reactivate.

Beyond that the driver issue can be solved two different ways:

Some people will say go through and delete everything Asus related and install all the necessary MSI drivers.

I advocate for completely starting fresh and reinstalling Windows to minimize any chance of driver conflicts and weird software bugs from changing mobos.
 
Solution

ak_au

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Sep 18, 2014
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What about windows? And do I get rid off the asus drivers then swap the motherboards then install the msi drivers??
 

ak_au

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Sorry this might sound quite stupid but how do I reinstall windows, also what happens to all my programs and file and games. Currently my OS and a few programs are on my ssd and the rest is on a hdd
 

ak_au

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I did build it, and I have the installation disk. So I have to back up my entire hard drive and then reinstall everything. Great :(
 

ak_au

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Can I not just reinstall windows from my ssd and then plug my hard drive back in and have all my stuff there??
 


What does that even mean?

Like I mentioned previously, some people have said that you can go through and delete all traces of your old mobo's drivers and programs and install the new motherboard drivers and successfully have a working system - all without reformatting and reinstalling Windows.

I've never done it and I think reinstalling Windows and reinstalling programs is a lot easier than wasting time hunting down leftover drivers.