Before I break something

[rekatan]

Before I go on ahead with my mobo swap I just want to know a few things since I'm changing to a haswell chip and a different brand motherboard do I need to unstall the old drivers before or after? Will it mess with my windows, ETC? I just want to know what I'm getting into before I jump into this project and then it doesn't work because of a driver issue or something stupid.

[X1XNobleX1X]

Before I go on ahead with my mobo swap I just want to know a few things since I'm changing to a haswell chip and a different brand motherboard do I need to unstall the old drivers before or after? Will it mess with my windows, ETC? I just want to know what I'm getting into before I jump into this project and then it doesn't work because of a driver issue or something stupid.

You don't have to, though it's the best thing to do. Because you won't have driver conflicts etc. 

[Tea1337]

You could install the drivers needed before install, but I would just put in the new parts and see what happens. But that's me.

[rekatan]

You could install the drivers needed before install, but I would just put in the new parts and see what happens. But that's me.

That sounds alright then, I was just worried it would break everything. but like the guy above said I don't need to so I guess it can't be that bad.

[penance]

I would not advise swapping your motherboard and cpu and using the same windows install. Do a fresh install you are likely going to have all kinds of crazy issues if not. The motherboard is the heart of your system and Windows can be very flaky if that changes. Not to mention it will most likey make your Windows install no longer valid as with that major change in equipment it will think its a new machine and require reactivation. 

[rekatan]

I would not advise swapping your motherboard and cpu and using the same windows install. Do a fresh install you are likely going to have all kinds of crazy issues if not. The motherboard is the heart of your system and Windows can be very flaky if that changes. Not to mention it will most likey make your Windows install no longer valid as with that major change in equipment it will think its a new machine and require reactivation. 

Well shit, so ill lose all my files then?

[penance]

Well shit, so ill lose all my files then?

You won't lose anything but it may require you to reactivate. This can be an issue if you have a non retail copy of Windows such as an OEM which is only valid for an install on one machine. If enough equipment changes then they key will no longer be considered valid. You are not going to lose anything though. You could experience long boot times, degraded performance, driver conflicts, and excessive errors. It is very hard to say depending on how different the boards are.

[rekatan]

You won't lose anything but it may require you to reactivate. This can be an issue if you have a non retail copy of Windows such as an OEM which is only valid for an install on one machine. If enough equipment changes then they key will no longer be considered valid. You are not going to lose anything though. You could experience long boot times, degraded performance, driver conflicts, and excessive errors. It is very hard to say depending on how different the boards are.

Alright, so if I turn it on and it asks me for my key it might not work? Also how would I fresh install windows, just pop the disc back in and let it download?

[penance]

Alright, so if I turn it on and it asks me for my key it might not work? Also how would I fresh install windows, just pop the disc back in and let it download?

The best way would be a clean install. WARNING though this will wipe everything on your drive so backup and files you want. You can do this by booting your computer from the disk on startup and going through the on screen instructions.

[rekatan]

The best way would be a clean install. WARNING though this will wipe everything on your drive so backup and files you want. You can do this by booting your computer from the disk on startup and going through the on screen instructions.

Sounds good, Will it delete the files on it's own or do I need to manually uninstall windows somehow?

[deathjester]

Sounds good, Will it delete the files on it's own or do I need to manually uninstall windows somehow?

 

It happens during install when booting off the disc, Remove old partition, make new parition. Install. When Windows is installed you need to activate it. Windows really doesn't care if it was oem or not. Win 8 did away with this policy.

 

On win 7 just call the automated phone number they give you in Windows if it doesn't auto activate, tell the automated voice "one" (computer) and punch in the new numbers.

[rekatan]

It happens during install when booting off the disc, Remove old partition, make new parition. Install. When Windows is installed you need to activate it. Windows really doesn't care if it was oem or not. Win 8 did away with this policy.

 

On win 7 just call the automated phone number they give you in Windows if it doesn't auto activate, tell the automated voice "one" (computer) and punch in the new numbers.

Sounds good, thanks friend.

[Hoppa]

I've done a CPU/ Motherboard/ Ram swap without fresh install of OS and it was a bitch to get it back working properly.

I went from a 4 core to 6 core and I had to tell the OS to recheck number of cores, remove any conflicting drivers.. etc etc

 

It was a lot more effort than re-installing windows.

[Madgemade]

If you do a swap and don't reinstall and the harware is too different the pc will not boot up at all ie. going from old amd board to new intel.

When you try to boot windows will die because it will try to load amd drivers for an intel motherboard.

If you want to swap use the syspref tool as this will handle most driver problems. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html

It's best to reinstall though.