Noob question about changing parts in pc

[MrTopSodaPop]

Kinda a noob question but I'm about to do a almost full system upgrade for my bro, mobo,cpu,gpu and ram other then drivers it should be fine to just throw the ssd and hard driver back in and by on my way right ? (win8.1)

 

[Enderman]

No, you clean install windows.

[Mark77]

Don't know about Windows 8, but Windows 10 is remarkably tolerant of hardware changes.  I've swapped from AMD platforms to Intel, no problem.  Intel to Intel is usually pretty easy too. 

[goodtofufriday]

outside of drivers, yes.

[manikyath]

on moments like these, you can either make a mess of re-using your install, or say "this would be the perfectt ime to start fresh".

 

take note of the things you want to keep (desktop shortcuts, start menu items, installed programs, etc.), back up the files you want to keep, and start fresh. you'll be amazed how much difference just a clean windows install can make.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, Mark77 said:

Don't know about Windows 8, but Windows 10 is remarkably tolerant of hardware changes.  I've swapped from AMD platforms to Intel, no problem.  Intel to Intel is usually pretty easy too. 

i've had a windows 7 (well, techically server 2008r2, but under the hood they're the same) install go from an athlon 64, to an i3 540, back to an athlon 64, and i've never had a hitch.

 

that doesnt mean its recommended practisce to do so. (oh, and you better believe that deactivated the hell out of my key )

[Cyracus]

you run into possible oddities from the old system drivers, otherwise you could run it without reinstalling windows, but always the best practice to do a clean install when you're changing practically all the hardware

[Kimchi7]

I would re install windows but backup other files

[MrTopSodaPop]

25 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

you run into possible oddities from the old system drivers, otherwise you could run it without reinstalling windows, but always the best practice to do a clean install when you're changing practically all the hardware

 

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

i've had a windows 7 (well, techically server 2008r2, but under the hood they're the same) install go from an athlon 64, to an i3 540, back to an athlon 64, and i've never had a hitch.

 

that doesnt mean its recommended practisce to do so. (oh, and you better believe that deactivated the hell out of my key )

Alright i think ill do a clean install, but i noticed a thing "refresh and reset" people seem to call it a feature in windows 8 and 10 i think would that be a better way of doing it ? seems to work the same way and might be faster to do that... 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, MrTopSodaPop said:

 

Alright i think ill do a clean install, but i noticed a thing "refresh and reset" people seem to call it a feature in windows 8 and 10 i think would that be a better way of doing it ? seems to work the same way and might be faster to do that... 

i.. honestly dont understand why that feature is even there.

[MrTopSodaPop]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i.. honestly dont understand why that feature is even there.

hmm.. did some reading and it seems to be an easier way to reset your windows default, I'm not all that experienced in all this.... as in .. i haven't done a clean install before or even looked at doing one until today soooo that's why i asked about it just seemed easier for me 

[Cyracus]

no, refresh and reset is like loading a restore point from right after you installed the OS and they save your files, it's fine for system corruption, but not a replacement for a clean install in your case

[LogicalDrm]

5 hours ago, manikyath said:

i've had a windows 7 (well, techically server 2008r2, but under the hood they're the same) install go from an athlon 64, to an i3 540, back to an athlon 64, and i've never had a hitch.

I moved from Z87 mobo to another Z87 mobo of same manufacturer (Gigabyte). Had to reinstall Win7. It really is hit and miss with that OS.

 

E: Also, since its 8.1, if its OEM, key will be invalid on new mobo.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

I moved from Z87 mobo to another Z87 mobo of same manufacturer (Gigabyte). Had to reinstall Win7. It really is hit and miss with that OS.

 

E: Also, since its 8.1, if its OEM, key will be invalid on new mobo.

i think i got lucky with the "simplicify" of the AM2 (i think?) platform i did the original install from, and the adaptability of the intel board the i3 540 lived on.