Motherboard Swap without new OS?

[Talisman2208]

Hey Guys!

 

I'm swapping my Z690 12900K with a Z790 13900KS, I'm wondering if I can simply swap them out without any major issues with my OS, I know it's probably best to do a fresh install, but that sounds like a pain, Is this possible given the boards and everything are so similar? Thanks!

[deadlou666]

Its best to reinstall windows if you change chipsets, if it was same chipset/generation it would have been fine

[Electronics Wizardy]

You should be able to to a swap by just moving the drive without an issue. I have moved windows installs between systems many times(and with very different processors) and generally it works fine.

[Levent]

Without any major issues? Probably. Is it faster to reinstall Windows than remove all traces of previous system? Definitely.

 

I am not sure how you came up with that "everything is similar" statement.

[Mark Kaine]

should work no problem just install the new chipset drivers and possibly update BIOS.

 

 

[svmlegacy]

You should always be prepared for a system failure - reinstalling an OS during a hardware upgrade is always a great chance to practice it.

[wseaton]

I've done this a lot lately. Typically it's an older office machine with a lot of software that will be a royal PITA to re-install and be very disruptive. So, I buy a new machine and just clone it over. Let Windows detect the new drivers, and all is good. Video drivers might require a manual install, but this is only moving from Nvidia to AMD / ATI, etc. I've had shockingly little issues moving to machines 10 years newer. If it's an Intel board just download their driver detect utility after the move and it will get you up to date. 

 

Make sure existing machine isn't running in RAID / RST mode. That will shut you down if the new MB is in AHCI mode. 

 

Microsoft used to be pr_cks about this with XP, and OEMs would die with the motherboard. However, MS is being more liberal about this with Win10/11. They want market share.

If you were running an HP OEM and moving to a Dell OEM machine you would likely be shut down at activation.

I'm guessing you are running one of those 3rd party OEMs of Windows. Those can be a bit unpredictable depending on where you got it. Provided it's a legit copy you should have no issues with re-activation. However, I strongly suggest going into the Windows Activation screen and linking the machine license to a Microsoft Account. This is about the only stipulation MS has in regard to moving an OEM, and it's worth the quick hassle.