New motherboard - without re-installing Windows?

[d3fu5i0n]

I received my P8P67 Deluxe B3 not too long ago.
I'll have the build started soon (when I get the last few parts), hopefully - but I've done so much tweaking, is there a way for me to jump from my Q6700/P5Q Premium [P45 Mobo.] to the new P67 board without the need to re-install Windows?
Usually the motherboard will determine the need to re-install Windows, however, could I possibly install all of the necessary drivers [including the chipset ones, etc.] and migrate the SSD & HDD I have, over to the new board with it all functioning and no re-installation necessary?

So, is there a way?

Thanks,

- d3fu5i0n

 

[TahoeDust]

I doubt it is ideal, but it does work. A few months ago I had a MB go bad and replaced it with a newer MB with a newer chipset. Windows 7 eventually found all the drivers and after a few forced reboots everything was running smooth.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I doubt it is ideal, but it does work. A few months ago I had a MB go bad and replaced it with a newer MB with a newer chipset. Windows 7 eventually found all the drivers and after a few forced reboots everything was running smooth.

Well, I've gone from a motherboard one time, tried to boot up with a new motherboard [my current P5Q Premium] and it'd just say that the OS couldn't boot.

I'm talking about it, to the degree that the chipset itself is classed as "incompatible" and "incorrect" to what the motherboard has.
I suppose I could install all of the drivers and then if worst comes to the worst, I'll have to re-install.
I can't see as to why it wouldn't be "ideal". It's not like doing an upgrade of an OS where it's not exactly perfectly "clean" - it's more like installing extra drivers to make it compatible with another motherboard, uninstall the old drivers - ta-dah! That's my vision.

 

[Gillbot]

Old thread, but some of the same still applies:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=265026

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I've done this recently and got lucky. Went from AMD Gigabyte 770 to Gigabyte Z68 chipset. What I did was boot into safe mode first, Uninstall anything hardware related to the old setup in device manager (i.e. chipset , NIC, sound, etc.). Then, go into the Control Panel and uninstall old software (i.e. Realtek, etc). Then, for good measure, I run a program called ccleaner to clear out the junk, especially in the registry. Granted, in this case it's for XP Pro SP3. Plan on eventually replacing it with Win7 64-bit.

I didn't have any luck going from an Asus G43 (Intel) to a Gigabyte AMD 760, though (unrecoverable BSOD).

Though it's a bit of a hassle re-installing everything, a clean install really is the way to go, IMO.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I've done this recently and got lucky. Went from AMD Gigabyte 770 to Gigabyte Z68 chipset. What I did was boot into safe mode first, Uninstall anything hardware related to the old setup in device manager (i.e. chipset , NIC, sound, etc.). Then, go into the Control Panel and uninstall old software (i.e. Realtek, etc). Granted, in this case it's for XP Pro SP3...it'll eventually be replaced with Win7 64-bit.

I didn't have any luck going from an Asus G43 (Intel) to a Gigabyte AMD 760, though (unrecoverable BSOD).

Though it's a bit of a hassle re-installing everything, a clean install really is the way to go, IMO.

Yeah, I suppose.
I do have a proper Win 7 integrated SP1 disc though, so that helps.
At least it won't take long to install everything on my SSD
That's interesting though, lucky going from an AMD chipset to a far newer Intel one.

 

[Ryland]

The only time I have heard of there being a problem switching hardware is if you are going from a single core processor to a multi-core processor there is a windows device that needed to be deleted before the switch (although I cant find it now).

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Yeah, I was surprised it worked flawlessly. Z68 platform is really nice & robust. Good luck w/ your install

 

[d3fu5i0n]

Yeah, I was surprised it worked flawlessly. Z68 platform is really nice & robust. Good luck w/ your install

Thanks.
I'll give it a whirl - if it works, would you consider it to still be a clean install, much like I explained? Or would you still recommend to do a clean Windows install?

I need to buy a 2500K soon, they're getting dearer.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

No prob...since you're going from Intel ---> Intel, I don't think you'll have much of an issue...but don't hold me to that

If it were me, I'd do a clean install on the SSD. This will eliminate any potential software/driver issues that could occur down the line with the old install.

I would've gotten a 2500K myself...but I got a sweet deal on the 2500 in my sig thanks to the FS/T forums.

 

[Kenmitch]

Give it a shot and see. You could do the show non -present device trick and clean it up afterwards. Google for instruction and follow to the T. Only remove what you know isn't there.

When your overclocking your chip? You'll wonder if you need more voltage or a fresh install

I sometimes do it at first for a test....But then do fresh install.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

UPDATE:

Okay, got the remaining parts. Built up the new system.
Funnily enough, I was lucky to have it boot without the need to Re-install Windows.
The only issue I have is that even after un-installing some of the devices - such as the previous LAN, audio, etc - They still appear in device manager (under the 'Other Devices' section) as they're there, but don't have the required drivers. I'll do disable and un-install on all of them, but every time I boot up, they come back. Is there any way to permanently remove them from the list?

Specifically, there are:
Marvell 91xx Config ATA Device
SM Bus Controller
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller ---- Yes, there is a second one
Unknown Device




Thanks.

 

[Kenmitch]

UPDATE:

Okay, got the remaining parts. Built up the new system.
Funnily enough, I was lucky to have it boot without the need to Re-install Windows.
The only issue I have is that even after un-installing some of the devices - such as the previous LAN, audio, etc - They still appear in device manager (under the 'Other Devices' section) as they're there, but don't have the required drivers. I'll do disable and un-install on all of them, but every time I boot up, they come back. Is there any way to permanently remove them from the list?

Specifically, there are:
Marvell 91xx Config ATA Device
SM Bus Controller
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller ---- Yes, there is a second one
Unknown Device




Thanks.

You could try the following to see if it'll get rid of them for good. Although a fresh install of windows would be best.

To view devices that were once installed but are no longer attached to the computer, open a Command Prompt window using the Run As Administrator option and enter the command:

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1

Then, from the same command prompt, type devmgmt.msc to open Device Manager. Choose View, Show Hidden Devices. The new instance of Device Manager will show “ghosted” entries for devices that were once present.

Just start at the top and work your way down. If in doubt don't delete them. You could do a backup first if your paranoid.

You'll see some microsoft ones in the sound section. Don't delete them as they are needed even tho they look to be ghost devices.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

You could try the following to see if it'll get rid of them for good. Although a fresh install of windows would be best.

To view devices that were once installed but are no longer attached to the computer, open a Command Prompt window using the Run As Administrator option and enter the command:

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1

Then, from the same command prompt, type devmgmt.msc to open Device Manager. Choose View, Show Hidden Devices. The new instance of Device Manager will show “ghosted” entries for devices that were once present.

Just start at the top and work your way down. If in doubt don't delete them. You could do a backup first if your paranoid.

You'll see some microsoft ones in the sound section. Don't delete them as they are needed even tho they look to be ghost devices.

Yeah, I did that modification a long time ago.
However, it turns out that these 'Other Devices' are just for my P8P67 Deluxe.
Many of them just seemed unknown - the USB was the USB3 driver, the Unknown was the Atheros Bluetooth, and the Marvell was the Marvell SATA controller [I'm running my devices off of the native Intel one though].

 

[Kenmitch]

Yeah, I did that modification a long time ago. However, it turns out that these 'Other Devices' are just for my P8P67 Deluxe. Many of them just seemed unknown - the USB was the USB3 driver, the Unknown was the Atheros Bluetooth, and the Marvell was the Marvell SATA controller [I'm running my devices off of the native Intel one though].

Guess that makes sense. I just disable the things I'm not gonna use like the Marvell controller, etc in bios. Speeds up the boot time by a little bit to.

Have fun with the new rig! Have you tried any overclocking yet? Or are you just gonna run at stock speed for a little bit and make sure it's stable?

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

hey there d3fu5i0n, that's great that you didn't have to do a reinstall :thumbsup: How's the system running? Like Ken said, you gonna do any overclocking?

 

[d3fu5i0n]

hey there d3fu5i0n, that's great that you didn't have to do a reinstall :thumbsup: How's the system running? Like Ken said, you gonna do any overclocking?

Lol, it'd be an insult to that 2500K and that amazing P8P67 Deluxe I have, not to do any overclocking.
I already did.
What I love about it is that you can overclock both the standard speed and the turbo separately. That means you could have a basic overclock for Windows, and an automatic heavy overclock for games - with SpeedStep in between. - Pure brilliance. Without any voltage increases, 3.7GHz currently [any higher is pointless for my 6950 2GB] and is rock-solid stable - it feels so light, as if it wasn't even an overclock. What the new CPU does help in is CPU intensive games, mainly ports - such as Assassin's Creed. Even my Q6700 @ 3.6GHz was struggling.
That overclock was literally - go into BIOS, push up the multiplier, save and exit. Done. Literally. Imagine what you could achieve through intensive tweaking.
Well, now that I've got the headroom for a far more powerful GPU, I'll be able to see what SB CPUs can really achieve.
The system is as stable as anything. I love it. The poster on the motherboard will be extremely useful. I also love the new SATA cables - no ugly reds, just a pure, slick black - along with my 650D, BeQuiet! case fans, Dark Rock Advanced HS, and PSU. Looks really good. Those new SATA cables have those clips as well - I've had experiences where cables have only come a little undone before, and you'd have to open your case up and wiggle all the cables to find the 'culprit'. Now, they're really secure.
I'm incredibly happy with the upgrade

 

[d3fu5i0n]

Guess that makes sense. I just disable the things I'm not gonna use like the Marvell controller, etc in bios. Speeds up the boot time by a little bit to.

Have fun with the new rig! Have you tried any overclocking yet? Or are you just gonna run at stock speed for a little bit and make sure it's stable?

Speeds up the boot time you say?
Then I MUST go into the uEFI and disable the Marvell controller. The SATA II/3GB/s ports run off of the Intel controller, right?
I'm using the two SATA III/6GB/s ports off of the Intel controller for my SSD and my HDD [both SATA II - but that's fine]. Then I have my BD drive running through a SATA II port.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Hey, that's great...I upgraded from an X3 720 @ 2.8, so I know how you feel the X3 was holding back the 5850, so now the 2500 really gives it wings :thumbsup:

 

[Kenmitch]

Speeds up the boot time you say? Then I MUST go into the uEFI and disable the Marvell controller. The SATA II/3GB/s ports run off of the Intel controller, right? I'm using the two SATA III/6GB/s ports off of the Intel controller for my SSD and my HDD [both SATA II - but that's fine]. Then I have my BD drive running through a SATA II port.

Yes the Sata II's run off the intel ports.

The Marvell controller adds about 5 seconds or so to the post part as the motherboard searches for drives on it. If your not using it you might as well disable it so it doesn't take any resources in windows.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

Hey, that's great...I upgraded from an X3 720 @ 2.8, so I know how you feel the X3 was holding back the 5850, so now the 2500 really gives it wings :thumbsup:

Well, it does depend. For example, with The Witcher 2, I'll get literally a 0% performance improvement.
More CPU intensive games, mainly ports, such as Assassin's Creed [I think I mentioned this before] Revelations (that I'm currently playing) have received around a 30-40% performance increase, with a more consistent framerate.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

Yes the Sata II's run off the intel ports.

The Marvell controller adds about 5 seconds or so to the post part as the motherboard searches for drives on it. If your not using it you might as well disable it so it doesn't take any resources in windows.

Yup, I shall do. My Win 7 boot time from my Vertex 2 is 10 seconds [exactly] anyway - but minimising the POST time will be great. Hopefully giving me an overall boot time under 15 seconds including the POST.
Lol, right now I'm away from home again [grandparents - stay here a lot ] (so, I only got about 20 minutes with the new build [CPU, motherboard and RAM is what is new - the rest is still fairly new ]).
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3GHz OC'd to 3.15GHz [K8 CPUs are VERY difficult to OC] and a 5670 512MB GDDR5 @ Stock.