Seeking a 2nd Opinion: upgrading my brother's computer and Win 7

[BonzaiDuck]

Here's the scenario. Bro has an EVGA 780i motherboard. His windows 7-64 boots from a dual-drive RAID0 on the 780i nForce controller. I want to replace his hardware and save myself headache and expense -- to include using another Win 7 /8 license and purchase. Even so, I have a Win 7-64 Home Premium all ready to go -- fresh.

Bro is not likely eager to become involved in rebuilding his system if we just install a fresh license (the Home Premium.) And if I can avoid setting up such a new license install, that could be extra work in addition to helping Bro get squared away with his customizations, his software, his files, etc .etc.

I think the 780i board was the first of the NVidia boards to be AHCI compliant. So I've imagined the following strategy.

1) Clone the 2x HDD RAID0 to a single HDD configured in RAID mode. Remove the 2x HDD's, leaving the single drive.

2) Use the M$ "Fix-It" button and web page to prepare this single drive for AHCI. Reconfigure Bro's BIOS for AHCI. Test that his system boots and uses the native MSAHCI windows driver.

[Or - 2.a. -- an alternative). Use an AHCI SATA-III controller to connect the drive (and assure AHCI compliance). Test that the system boots.

3) Connect the drive to the new mobo, memory etc. Boot up and replace the system drivers, onboard feature drivers, etc.

4) Clone this single HDD to a new SSD to use the MSAHCI driver and the new hardware.

I said I was seeking a second opinion. I don't need pronouncements about using SYSPREP, or the terrible nature of cloning software (like Acronis) -- or any of the rest of it. Instead, I ask: "Is this feasible?" And -- "What did I forget, or what pitfalls or drawbacks am I likely to see?"

 

[Emulex]

Why not just add an external drive via USB and clone it to there? On my dell inspiron RAID/AHCI are the same mode, and i've done just what you said using acronis free trial, just to an external USB SSD, then unplugged the raid drives, and plopped in the SSD and left the settings alone and it booted quite fine!

Didn't need to mess with AHCI since the bios says "RAID/AHCI" or "IDE" mode

 

[jimpz]

There is a very good chance that in step 3, when you connect this drive to the new mobo, it will not even boot, because of the new hardware/drivers not in the OS

 

[Emulex]

Changing a motherboard will invalidate the activation of windows 7/8 if it is a retail copy! (or OEM SLIC 2.1) - I missed that part.

best to do a fresh install if you are changing motherboard to get the drivers clean/straight!

 

[Z15CAM]

best to do a fresh install if you are changing motherboard to get the drivers clean/straight!

Ever hear of a MS SYS-Prep Ghost Bachup Image.

 

[Emulex]

Ever hear of a MS SYS-Prep Ghost Bachup Image.

Yes - you sure you want to go that route? Usually makes a mess unless you are building a specific image with the correct drivers already planned out!

For consumers, I'll stick with it's cleaner to do a full install when changing out chipsets!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Why not just add an external drive via USB and clone it to there? On my dell inspiron RAID/AHCI are the same mode, and i've done just what you said using acronis free trial, just to an external USB SSD, then unplugged the raid drives, and plopped in the SSD and left the settings alone and it booted quite fine!

Didn't need to mess with AHCI since the bios says "RAID/AHCI" or "IDE" mode

To my experience, RAID and AHCI are different and mutually exclusive drive configuration modes. And there is a history of troubles people had to convert from one to the other -- prompting forum post solutions for making between one and three edits to the registry before reboot under the newly-chosen mode, or an MS webpage with a "fixit" button that also works quite well.

I've since discovered that even the 780i chipset did not have any native AHCI compliance for the non-RAID configuration of individual drives. I can SEE that I might be able to add a PCI-E Marvell-based controller that runs by default in AHCI mode, using the MSAHCI driver. That's more extra trouble, even so. But such a drive would then boot with the MSAHCI driver under the Intel controller of the new motherboard.

I HAVE had success in cloning from an AHCI compliant controller to a USB external drive, and the resulting clone booted without a hitch.

As to the "remaining" drivers, I would think that Windows would simply load default vanilla drivers for the chipset and onboard features. My understanding was that the critical driver was the storage driver. That would otherwise prevent a system being moved from one chipset to another of different manufacture. Truth be told, there are all sorts of uncertainties about this.

As to the OEM install and license. You only have to answer the right questions at activation time; may have to get on the telephone with an automated system. But I had a motherboard disaster this fall -- a motherboard which came to me with the original OEM install-disc/license of the first owner (who sold it to me). I was able to reactivate that license for a new motherboard replacement for the one I broke.

As much as I'm looking for a work-around, the clean install (and the advice of Emulex) is probably the surest option -- which I'd always followed in the past. My problem is working with my brother. It is also the problem that I'd like to avoid using the fresh Home Premium license if I can use the original Win 7-64 Pro installed on his system. Since I want him to have access to his existing system while I prepare the new one, I'd be a bit anxious about having them both hooked up to our LAN and the internet (therefore) at the same time, even if I defer the activation of the new install. I have no certain knowledge about the pitfalls of doing it that way.

The surest thing I could do is to simply install the Home Premium license, swallow the loss of a perfectly good "re-activatable" win 7-64 Pro license, and just "get it done." But there will be "adjustments" to the changeover that may cause my brother some initial irritation.

This is always the problem with upgrades in this house. I have to assess the list of software installs, wallpaper and settings and other things, and get the fam-damn-ily member to "buy in." But it's just time to unload these . . .8=year-old . . . C2D LGA 775 systems.

Back to the OEM licenses. MS has been very lenient about this, since there are sufficient numbers of folks who simply have a motherboard die. The critical question: "Are you installing on the 'same' computer?" Or "on only ONE computer?" That's all in the eye of the beholder, especially for motherboard replacement.

I'll have to consult a bit more with Bro. If I go the "clean" route with the Home Premium license, he'll have to make some tweaks on his own. Fact is, I can completely duplicate everything on his system except for MS Office installation, copy the files, get it all set up. It will have a different machine name, but I'll create the same account and password for the LAN and server. When it's ready, he shouldn't need to do a lot.

I was just hoping for a shortcut with the other possibilities.

And I'll probably revisit Z15CAM's perpetual advice about SYSPREP ghost backup images. [I knew he'd chime in about that, before I posted the thread! He's a real pistol, he is!