How bad of an idea is it to replace mobo and CPU and not do a reinstall?

[crash331]

Thinking of going from an i7-870 Lynnfield to a new Haswell. Will it be a pain in the ass doing this without reinstalling windows? Will the fact that I am using BIOS now and want to go to UEFI be a problem?

 

[Sheep221]

windows installation is quite bound to mobo and crashes especially when chipset is different, since you will go straight to haswell, yes you will be required to reinstall the system

 

[QuietDad]

Just grab a spare HD or External drive and to a system backup to it. After a fresh install of Windows, you run the restore and download it all back. Google Windows 7 migration assistant. There's hundreds of free ones out there.

 

[crash331]

I probably just need to bite the bullet and reinstall everything anyway. I am just going to have to make a list of all the custom stuff I use (some not regularly) and make sure to back it up. I have random scripts and batch files that fire off at certain times. Like if I dump the CF card from my camera, a batch file runs to copy it all to a NAS.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I've had one or two instances where I connected boot drive from an old PC to a new box with new mobo/cpu/ram and existing Windows 7 install booted up right away. So it might work. Of course in those cases I would always go from one intel system to a newer intel system (no cross intel/AMD hopping) and I would never really test it for stability. But it might work. Do a windows system image backup just in case and try it.

 

[ratjacket]

My recent switch from 775 to 1150 booted to windows without a reinstall but i reinstalled anyway (win7)

its a bit hit and miss

I remember i had a s939 that i had to replace with an identical mobo(maybe different rev number) but it would not boot and needed reinstalled, i excpected it to be fine and not need a reinstall (winxp)

at the least you would expect to uninstall the old drivers and replace with new ones

 

[996GT2]

I've done it before without problems, but as others have said, it's a bit hit or miss. If you're going from one mobo/CPU to another within the same generation (e.g. 3570K to 3770K), you'd probably be fine.

 

[UNhooked]

hit or miss won't know until you try it

 

[denis280]

hit or miss won't know until you try it

Agree. sometime they do. sometime they don't

 

[QuietDad]

One other thing that may improve your chances. Install the drivers for the new motherboard before you actually do the swap so Windows finds the drivers when it boots on the new setup.

 

[Engineer]

As I stated in another thread, run Sysprep to reset the Windows drivers to nothing. Turn off PC. Move drive to new board/CPU. Boot and allow Windows to install new drivers. Activate Windows again.

Google Sysprep and new motherboard for examples.

 

[Engineer]

One other thing that may improve your chances. Install the drivers for the new motherboard before you actually do the swap so Windows finds the drivers when it boots on the new setup.

Sometimes, that is not possible especially if the driver installer detects the board/chipset before installation.

 

[Gillbot]

Old thread with info is here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=265026&highlight=sysprep+install+windows

 

[QuietDad]

Sometimes, that is not possible especially if the driver installer detects the board/chipset before installation.

I agree with you if you go thru the autorun.inf procedure or the setup.exe in the root or quivilant. Usually you can look for a "drivers" folder and right click/install the drivers without checking.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Windows 7 and later are pretty good at adapting to a new mobo/CPU. If you're not OCD about everything being "perfect," you could give it a try (after backing your stuff up of course) and see if works. It probably will be fine.

 

[Alan G]

@shatarupa1 - what kind of keyboard are you using? Some wireless keyboards won't let you enter BIOS as the driver doesn't load in time (I've had this problem on occasion). If you has a USB keyboard laying around try that.

 

[flexy]

i do NEVER re-install my OS when I run into problems like other people who are quick to "format and re-install" when they have driver problems, stutters in games or a virus infection. Re-installing is always the last of all resorts I only do when I had a major, major system malfunction.

Because of that, HOWEVER, when I change hardware and especially going from one architecture to the other I will re-install simply because once in a while you SHOULD start out fresh and from scratch. And a new build w/ new hardware is that time when a re-install is in order.

I do not even recommend to "download back" (=restore) a backup as some guy above recommended...because you do not want to install fresh and then import back all the crap from years which accumulated in the registry. Then..what would be the point? IF you re-install, then do it right.

 

[UaVaj]

with win7 x64 enterprise.

swap same ssd in random order from nforce lga775 to p55 lga1156 to h67 lga1155 to z77 lga1155 will no ill effect. swap 560ti to 580 to 680 to 680sli in random order too. no ill effect.

of course your mileage will vary.

 

[pctestcardscom]

windows installation is quite bound to mobo and crashes especially when chipset is different, since you will go straight to haswell, yes you will be required to reinstall the system

Yes, changing the mobo hardware without reinstalling the OS may cause the Blue Screen or auto reboot.

This is because the latest OS are all hardware based and binding.

Hope this helps.
Bill
Tech Manager, WPTinc.:thumbsup: