Doing a Core Parts System Swap; Need Help Prepping

[positivePXL]

I had bought a whole new set of core parts for my PC through Black-Friday/Cyber-Monday, and I've been waiting for my new AM4 bracket to come in from NZXT, which was way more of a struggle than it should have been. My bracket came in Monday while I was at work, and I have the perfect opening in both my schedules from work AND from my competition obligations, that I'll have two days to drop in my new CPU, Mobo, and RAM, starting tomorrow. 

I saw a couple of threads similar to what I am asking for help for, but none of them also had a RAID array of drives. So, on top of my general concerns about prepping my currently installed system drivers, programs, and software, I'm also curious if there is anything additional I need to worry about because I have two 1tb hard drives in RAID1. 

i5-6600k-->r7-1700x

MSI Gaming M5-->MSI Gaming Pro Carbon x370

4x8gb DDR4 RipjawsV@2400-->2x16gb DDR4 RipjawsV@3200

MSI GTX 1070 8g

NZXT Kraken x61

256gb Samsung 850 Pro (boot)

2x1tb Seagate HDD's (RAID1)

 

Additional info:
Win10 64bit

SSD storage is almost full, 13gb of free space

 

Thanks in advance for all and any help that you can provide, 

positivePXL [+PXL]

[Tabs]

How is your Raid 1 array configured? Through Intel RST or through Windows built in disk mirroring?

[positivePXL]

4 minutes ago, Tabs said:

-cut-

I don't know ;-;

I did the thing, where I went into the storage manager, selected my two, initialized 1tb drives, right clicked and did the process for converting them to raid array.

[Tabs]

You mean you used "Disk Management" (Screenshot attached)? If that's the case, it'll work fine. Windows' software raid setups are completely hardware agnostic.

 

Normally, you'd be able to just transplant your old hard drives straight into your new hardware, except your install may not boot without added drivers to support the new disk controller on your Ryzen board.

 

You can follow my instructions here to generalise your disk (remove all the intel drivers etc), but then after you install the drives into the new hardware, you'll need to boot from your Windows 10 install usb/dvd, go to "startup repair" and the automatic repair process should ask you to point it to the drivers for your new motherboard. You can get them off the DVD that comes with the board, or download them before you follow the instructions in my previous post.

 

*do a backup before this, just in case*

 

NOTE Activation will break when doing this process. If you have a retail license, it can be reactivated easily, but if you use an OEM one - depending on how generous Microsoft phone activation is being - you may need to get a new key.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Tabs
I somehow managed to read that you were running windows 7. No idea why. Post updated.

[positivePXL]

@Tabs

Yes, disk management; neat.

 

Running Win10-64bit from a win7 update key. I don't have my original Windows activation key anywhere around.

 

I don't have a physical media boot device.

 

I have no method of backing up my files

 

I'm actually running Win10

 

I hear that Win10 keys originating from Win7 upgrades, tend not to be deactivated, how valid is this generalization?

[Tabs]

58 minutes ago, positivePXL said:

@Tabs

Yes, disk management; neat.

 

Running Win10-64bit from a win7 update key. I don't have my original Windows activation key anywhere around.

 

I don't have a physical media boot device.

 

I have no method of backing up my files

 

I'm actually running Win10

 

I hear that Win10 keys originating from Win7 upgrades, tend not to be deactivated, how valid is this generalization?

You can create a windows 10 bootable usb drive for the purposes of repairing your install from Microsoft directly; just make sure you have at least an 8gb usb drive around.

 

Doing this without a backup is very very risky if it's not a procedure you've done before.

 

If you've tied your windows license to your Microsoft account (Check Activation under settings, see screenshot), then you'll be fine. Once you swap the disk over and get it working again, use the troubleshooter on that same page and it'll deactivate on your old hardware and reactivate on your new hardware.

 

In terms of the generalization, that statement is basically wrong whenever a full hardware change is involved like in your case - but upgrades from old keys are always considered "retail", so reactivation is very easy. If you had instead upgraded an OEM machine, or bought a Windows 10 OEM key, you'd have a harder time. Luckily that doesn't apply in your case.

 

Spoiler

 

[positivePXL]

@Tabs

Will the drive need to be formatted, or will I just be able to tell the new BIOS to boot from the plugged in USB, and it will find the OS? Otherwise I'll have to back up the files on my flash drive to my hard disk just so I can use my flash drive.

 

The best I can do is break the RAID array and have two copies of the one disk, reformat the one, and then back-up my SSD to the other hard disk. Of course then the question rises, if I break the array, will I be able to make a new RAID array with the disks once I no longer need the backup, will it properly copy over the files from the one drive over to the reformatted formerly backup drive?

 

Just made a Microsoft account, tied it to my Win10 key. (I'm assuming you're referring to a troubleshooter in the link you directed to in your first sentence)

 

Good to note, thanks!

 

 

[positivePXL]

Actually, now that I think about it, I have money again, I can just go down and buy a new HDD from my local computer parts store, I'll go ahead and drop by after work tomorrow and see if I can swallow the price for a new WD Blue/Black 2tb.

[positivePXL]

@Tabs

Doing a full system back-up now.

My question about the OS boot drive still stands though,

[Tabs]

9 minutes ago, positivePXL said:

@Tabs

Doing a full system back-up now.

My question about the OS boot drive still stands though,

 

To perform a startup repair, it just needs to be able to access the drive - so keep drivers handy for the new motherboard, it'll need them. The info I gave previously will enable you to migrate to your new machine without reformatting anything.

 

Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I work nights and have only just got home from work.

[positivePXL]

14 minutes ago, Tabs said:

Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I work nights and have only just got home from work.

No problem, figured you get enough mentions, probably didn't even notice me.

 

Also, I can't get my system to backup; help ;-;

[Tabs]

1 minute ago, positivePXL said:

No problem, figured you get enough mentions, probably didn't even notice me.

 

Also, I can't get my system to backup; help ;-;

What are you trying to use to backup your machine?

[positivePXL]

1 minute ago, Tabs said:

What are you trying to use to backup your machine?

Windows' internal method, File History(?)

[positivePXL]

I've started just moving some of my raw data files over, shadowplay footage and family photos and the like, and that will take some time. So while we wait, how do I get the rest of my system to backup properly?

[Tabs]

Just now, positivePXL said:

Windows' internal method, File History(?)

I wouldn't recommend that for a full system backup. I'd personally recommend you create a system image backup with a tool like Macrium Reflect, since it includes the ability to create a recovery image that is bootable, and can be used to restore your backup in case everything goes FUBAR.

 

It's free for home use too, which is nice.

 

[Tabs]

I do wanna drive the point home a little too though: There's no 100% guarantees here that this will work without a fresh install, even though your chances are good so long as Windows can detect the drive controller.

 

In the event that anything goes pear shaped, you'll have your backup, and the ability to fresh install your OS if needed. I wish you luck.

 

As an aside, a more extreme approach would be to use DISM to inject all the drivers into the Windows image. It's the kind of thing that I personally would find enjoyable, but it would also take a lot of time and effort that most people wouldn't be able to justify compared to fresh installing.

[positivePXL]

@Tabs , how do even us the 'Sysprep /generalize /shutdown /oobe' command?!

[positivePXL]

My data is backed up, I have my Windows OS thumbdrive, my hardware is ready to go, but I have no idea how to use the generalize shutdown command.

[positivePXL]

Nvm, found the program. Next time I write here will be either form my phone, freaking out, or from my new computer, wish me luck.

[positivePXL]

@Tabs

So, it was painful, and the problems are still not over, but, Win10 is finally working 'properly'.

 

Even though I generalized my OS properly for the switch, I still had to do the fresh install. It took me 4 hours to get Win10 to install correctly. Once I had Win10 installed, it was clunky and awkward, once I was in, I noticed that all the drivers I had installed ahead of time and left in my hard drives, were innaccessible because nothing except my C:/ drive could be accessed. I couldn't use Edge because the browser would become entirely unresponsive as soon as I tried to load a webpage. 

 

Eventually, I got access to my back-up drive by just assigning it a drive letter (why tf is this even a problem?), and it turns out that Edge being unresponsive was just Edge being unresponsive; Chrome works fine. I flashed in some new, updated BIOS, even though the system didn't seem to need it.

 

I still have to yell at MS to get my activation figured out. 

And also, my RAID array is broken. I can't update the RAID drivers, the chipset drivers didn't fix the problem. They're connected properly, and yet, they just appear as 'failed'. 'Reactivating' the drives does bubkis. I think I'll just reformat and create a new RAID array and dump my image backups in it.

 

Thanks for everything Tabs, really helped.

[Tabs]

1 hour ago, positivePXL said:

@Tabs

So, it was painful, and the problems are still not over, but, Win10 is finally working 'properly'.

 

Even though I generalized my OS properly for the switch, I still had to do the fresh install. It took me 4 hours to get Win10 to install correctly. Once I had Win10 installed, it was clunky and awkward, once I was in, I noticed that all the drivers I had installed ahead of time and left in my hard drives, were innaccessible because nothing except my C:/ drive could be accessed. I couldn't use Edge because the browser would become entirely unresponsive as soon as I tried to load a webpage. 

 

Eventually, I got access to my back-up drive by just assigning it a drive letter (why tf is this even a problem?), and it turns out that Edge being unresponsive was just Edge being unresponsive; Chrome works fine. I flashed in some new, updated BIOS, even though the system didn't seem to need it.

 

I still have to yell at MS to get my activation figured out. 

And also, my RAID array is broken. I can't update the RAID drivers, the chipset drivers didn't fix the problem. They're connected properly, and yet, they just appear as 'failed'. 'Reactivating' the drives does bubkis. I think I'll just reformat and create a new RAID array and dump my image backups in it.

 

Thanks for everything Tabs, really helped.

I'm sorry to hear you had so many problems mate. I hope that backup worked out, since it'll take the edge off somewhat after all those issues.