Upgrading Motherboard Without Reinstalling OS?
Oct 24, 2011
I want to upgrade my MB on a Windows 7 system. However, I do not want to reinstall Windows or any of my apps. I simply want to plug in my HDDs and boot into Windows as before. The existing board is an Asus P5B Deluxe. The new MB is an Asus P8Z68 Deluxe. I have two SATA HDDs installed. One of these drives contains the OS as well as three other data partitions (yeah, I know, bad idea). The IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in device manager are set to the following:
Intel(R) ICH8 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller � 2825� �Intel(R) ICH8 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller � 2820�
I�m guessing that if I simply reinstall the HDDs on the new MB, the system will not boot because it won�t recognize the drives. So, I was wondering if I could change the storage controller setting to �Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller� in Device Manager prior to installing the new MB and just before old system shutdown. That way, when the new board is installed, prior to the next startup, the system will hopefully recognize the HDDs and boot into Windows.
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May 2, 2012
I am replacing my mobo shortly. I am running Windows 7 and XP dual boot, I am using the same cpu, graphics card ram, drives etc. I don't want to reinstall at the moment, how do I go about getting it all to work correctly?
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Jan 19, 2012
I have an Intel Motherboard which I am changing to a Gigabyte one.If I were to do this myself, I would take proper steps to insure that Windows will boot with the new hardware. I would update my Intel Sata controller driver to a Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller. Then, SHUTDOWN the computer (not restart), then install the new Motherboard and all should be fine. Windows should install the new drivers.The problem is, my computer is being serviced for free at the place I purchased it from. So I don't have access or communication with the lab. I'm sure they are professionals but I want to be sure they don't mess up my C drive or drivers. So I have a few choices:
1. Update the controller driver to Standard, turn off the computer and send it to the lab (maybe with a note, asking that they install the motherboard BEFORE they turn the computer on).
2. Trust them that they know what they are doing and hope they will first turn the computer on, uninstall the Intel controller driver, and then install the new motherboard.
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Jul 21, 2011
I will be replacing my PC's MoBo soon. My PC came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-BitI want to upgrade the motherboard, but I heard that I will lose my OS. Is that true?If so, can I reinstall my OS (I have the product key, but no installation disk)? Will I lose my data as well?
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Jun 22, 2012
I'm changing my motherboard and would really avoid to reinstall windows 7. Is it possible without causing too much instability ? CPU, RAM, video card and all other hardware will stay the same.
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Feb 11, 2009
I am going to be upgrading my motherboard, along with the processor and memory, with an existing Windows 7 installation. I always expect things to go horribly wrong, of course, so I have backed up as needed. Still, I would really rather do a successful upgrade of the OS rather than a clean install.I know with XP you can just do a repair install before letting the OS boot with the new hardware, but I have never upgraded this way with Vista, and I expect 7 is similar to Vista. I saw that it may help my chances to delete the current IDE controllers before the change ( MSFN Forums > New Motherboard upgrade with Vista ). Does that mean I just delete the relevant drivers in Device Manager? I'm not clear about exactly which drivers this entails in Device Manager. And the following link is for XP, but I'm wondering how relevant it would be on Vista or Windows 7: How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 The new motherboard should be fairly similar otherwise, it would be updating from an AMD SB600 south bridge to an SB700, but it's staying with an AMD brand chip etc.
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Apr 15, 2011
I just upgraded my PC to an Intel Core i5 750 quad-core processor and an MSI P55-CD53 motherboard. While Windows performs fine while running, the startup is EXTREMELY slow. I did a repair install of Windows, cleaned out the discarded files, did a registry cleanup, and defragemented my HDD. However, this didn't seem to fix the problem.Looking at the Windows Experience index, it looks like my lowest scoring device is my HDD. My HDD is IDE, not SATA, and I am thinking that this could be due to the fact that the motherboard is primarily designed for SATA.So, should I perhaps do a clean install of Windows, or should I get a new SATA HDD as well as a clean install of Windows?
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Jan 5, 2013
I've had my notebook for about two and a half years now and its starting to run slow and lag often. I noticed that the cpu usage when just browsing the internet is around 50%, when watching a movie around 70%, and when playing a video game or using a big program around 90%. The notebook has a relatively slow cpu speed (1.2GHz). Is it possible to put a new cpu in my notebook without replacing the motherboard as well? It also has 4gb of RAM which I am going to upgrade to 8gb soon. I was just looking for ways to upgrade my current pc.
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Mar 8, 2011
I'm getting a new motherboard/cpu and I'm assuming I'll have to upgrade windows xp to windows 7 on my HDD. My question is what should the ordered process be for doing this? Should I install my motherboard (and everything else) first, then boot the CD from the bios settings and install windows 7? Or do I have to format my HDD and do a fresh windows 7 install.
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Dec 18, 2011
915 motherboard intel support chipset motherboard sound, vga, usb drivers download
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Mar 6, 2011
i just finished my build and i have no idea why i went for a motherboard with 2 slots for ram it can hold up to 16gb but luckly ebuyer sent me out an extra 4gb of kingston hyperx ram so i have 8gb all together but theres a problem theres 4 sticks ! obviously i wouldnt want to send it back so what do ya think either upgrade my motherboard and smash the extra 4 gb in there or keep to my original one i dont have money to blow atall im really struggling if its something that will really make a difference ill go with it if not then ill just keep to my original and when i come to buy a graphics card i will get a 2gb graphics card to help with gaming?
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Nov 25, 2011
I bought a brand new Samsung QX411 two months ago. It's a great computer. Problem is, it got hit with a nasty virus that was pretty much completely debilitating, so I took it in to Best Buy (mistake), and they told me the best thing would be just reinstall Windows 7, and everything would be great. Well, I did, and now I am stuck. I reinstalled, but I did not realize that literally nothing would be in place. I am not completely naive: I did save all of my important files, folders, music, etc. So it's not that I have lost my data and am now crying "woe is me." Instead, I have basically a blank Windows 7 and nothing is there. I can't connect to the internet, because it is telling me that I don't have the necessary hardware (I know I do, but still). A basic summary would be this: I have no idea what to do after properly installing Windows 7. I want to get it as close back to normal as I can, but I don't know how to start.
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Jul 13, 2012
I recently built a new computer system that contains my old HDD, which I transferred from my previous PC. The old copy of Windows 7 that was already installed didn't work in the new PC, as expected. Instead, I have a new copy of Windows 7 available that I need to get on the HDD. But I also need to deal with the old Windows copy. I've already transferred all of my personal files from the old copy onto a portable HDD for safe keeping. What I plan on doing is reinstalling the new copy of Windows 7 onto the PC's HDD to be used in the new computer. I was able to acquire the new Windows 7 version for a really cheap price from my college.
So now I either have to format my HDD so that the new Windows 7 can work properly while keeping the old/useless version out of the way, or wipe the old Windows 7 from the HDD completely. Should I keep the old Windows 7 on the HDD and just never use it, or would that conflict too much with the partition used by the new version? If they do conflict, how should I go about removing the old Windows 7 partition? dealing with the HDD and OS seems to be one of the most annoying parts of a PC.
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May 7, 2011
I have bought a Lenovo Ideapad about 6 month ago with Windows 7 Home Premium.I now want to Re-Install Windows and delete my whole data. In Short, I want it to be Completely Clean.I Dont have My Windows CD to do That, But I have a Key Below My laptop and its Genuine.
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Dec 7, 2010
I mistakenly purchased a 32 bit version of windows 7 pro which was on OEM. Now I am going to purchase the 64 bit version OEM software again and format my hard drive and reinstall the 64 bit OS on my PC.
My question is now that I will be using the 64 Bit version, can I re-use my 32 bit OEM on a completely different PC as it will no longer be installed on my PC?
If so do I have to uninstall it first or will a simple wipe off the hard drive deactivate the 32 bit key? Also is there a cheaper option to purchasing the OEM software again, such as upgrading from 32bit to 64bit?
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Dec 11, 2010
I've recently purchased an SSD and would like to utilize it as a boot drive. I am happy with my configuration and would like just to install Windows 7 on the SSD and use it to boot -- with all other hardware and drives remaining without change.
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Apr 4, 2011
I have a year old "gifted" computer currently running Windows 7 Ultimate OEM.Much of the software on it was transferred over from another standalone XP computer. This represents years of accumulated data.nfortunately, all that old software has come back to haunt me : running slow, if all. And corrupted registry, etc. etc. -- a real mess.If that wasn't enough there was also a bag of malware on the machine. I have spent the last several days cleaning it so the machine will run half decently. So far, so good! No trace of any viruses or malware Along the way I also found out that the OS may be corrupted (as in non-legit) as there appears to be some sort of EULA boot loader (DAZ.Loader?) on it (from the guy who originally set up the computer for me). With that in mind I think it's now best that I repurchase a legit copy of Windows 7 Pro (at least) OEM and reinstall the whole thing properly. But I'm not sure how this new OS will work with the remnants of the other OS still on the computer.As I still want to hang on to our most sacred data that's well integrated on both the OS drive and the larger data drives?
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Oct 19, 2012
After having tons of issues with my PC, I finally got around to reformating and reinstalling XP for the first time since 2009. Around the same time I ordered a Windows 7 Pro Upgrade disc online, but went ahead and reinstalled XP to get me going while I waited for Windows 7 to arrive.As usual, XP was a PITA to reinstall. Had to get on the laptop to find an Intel ethernet driver for the mobo just to be able to get online, and then had to find drivers for other stuff after getting a whole list of yellow 's in the hardware listWell yesterday Windows 7 arrived, and I installed it last night, doing another format of the entire 250GB C drive and installing Windows 7 fresh. Everything went so smoothly, I was amazed. It picked up all the drivers it needed, and when everything was finished I ended up with only a single for the Intel Simple Communications Controller, which was remedied with another driver for the Intel mobo.
I've been using Windows 7 x64 at my office for 3 years now, but it has been some time since I've done a fresh install of it. Sooo much easier than XP in just about every way. *edit* I did install the x86 version since I'm still only running 3 GB RAM. In the near future I plan on upgrading the CPU and mobo and installing 16 GB RAM along with Windows 7 x64. Hope I don't have any issues being that this Windows is an upgrade version and there won't be any trace of XP when I do the hardware upgrades.
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Jan 5, 2013
So I've been using my new laptop recently and discovered its hybrid hard drive contains an SSD. And boots up windows in seconds. This has caused me to want to buy an SSD for my desktop (my real gaming machine). The trouble lies within reinstalling windows and backing up.My desktop currently has two hard drives. Both 1tb each, one is full. And the other is barely used up. If I were to buy an SSD for my desktop. Would it be possible to reinstall windows (OEM) onto my new SSD? How would I do this? Also I've never backed up before (terrible I know and I want to start now!). However my family does own a 1tb external HDD. How much of my 1.2tb of data could I backup, and how would I do it? I've got loads of games and whatnot installed I don't want to lose.
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Nov 22, 2011
I'm currently running windows 7 64 bit on my current system. I am just after buying a new pc and want to install my OS on my new SSD. I'm going to keep the old raptor HDD for my new system also (the raptor HDD currently has the OS on it)
1. Can I install windows to my SSD using the same product key yes?
2. How can I/whats the best way to completely remove the OS from the raptor HDD and just use it as a storage device..I want to use the 120GB SSD for the OS & some of my games - (Origin & Steam)
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Dec 30, 2012
I just installed and activated OEM Win 7 on an HDD. Changed my mind and want to purchase an SSD, place Win on that, and use my HDD for everything else. Will I still be able to install Win or am I too late because I activated it?
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Oct 7, 2011
My computer has given me that dang error that one of my USB port isn't recognized. I have tried all the fix options even called HP who told me that the circuits are dead (he didn't check anything as my printer is 4.5 years old) and offered to sell me a new model with a huge discount that was the exact price on their website. Anyway, my last option before buying a new printer is uninstalling and reinstaling my usb port. How do I know which port is which? Can it be the one called 'unknown port"?
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Jan 31, 2013
I'm not sure this is the right forum for this question, but then again: lots of people seem to have comparable problems, so here goes:As my 3-year old netbook was getting very slow, I decided to get rid of all the junk at once by completely reinstalling the OS (Win7 starter). Now, there is a very easy way to this with the Recovery Manager (as described in the support papers on the HP site), but that didn't work for me. This may wll be due to a faulty HD; I've no way of testing it as my C: drive is now reformatted. So what next?I was not completely unprepared; earlier I made:- a USB-stick with the 'HP USB Recovery Flash Disk Utility' (HP45774). The stick does contain, I think, all or almost all of the contents of the recovery partition. (NB: you need a 16Gb stick and this is a trick you can do only once.
- a recovery CD on an external CD drive, although without a 'disk-image' as by then the system had grown much too bloated already. (should have done that straight away after I'd bought it, although I'm a bit at a loss as to what storage medium would be used).These two means should surely be enough to restore the thing to factory settings? However:- The memory stick should be bootable, but isn't.- Booting from CD works, but the Recovery Manager can't seem to access the diskimage on the usb-stick. (Although, when I call up a command prompt, one of the other options, it is readily available.)So I don't really know what to do now. I'm thinking of two options:1. In one forum thread it was said that the stick thus made 'often' or even 'usually' isn't bootable, as it should be. The advice was to make it bootable, using EasyBCD. That's easier said then done, I found; no luck so far.
The stick does contain a boot directory, bootmgr etc.; it clearly is supposed to be bootable.)2. Following the advice in other threads, I downloaded the whole 1.7Gb WAIK, just to get hold of imagex.exe, which i then put on the memory stick. As the bootable 'recovery CD' does provide a command prompt, I could, supposedly, 'apply' the image base.wim, which is also on the stick, to 'drive D:' (under these circumstances, that's the main partition). But as there's lots of other stuff on the stick (like FactoryUpdates), I'm afraid it will be a lot of hassle installing computer-specific drivers and stuff.
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Feb 26, 2011
I want to buy a new laptop. The problem is that new laptops come with a tonne of crap on them and I want a clean install of Win7.What would I need to get this clean install?Would I need to *cough* acquire an OEM edition of Win7?
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Apr 4, 2011
I have recently purchased a new Samsung NC110 netbook with Windows 7 Starter installed. However, I find it runs fairly slowly so I intend to install XP on it from an old installation disc.However, when I first started my netbook I set up a partition with 40Gb allocated to the C drive and the remaining 240 to a D drive. Not being that computer savvy I got confused and despite having a portable hard drive for back up and the computer having a separate hidden restore partition, I went ahead with this.My question is that if I start again with XP can I reset the partition to a single C drive with separate restore area?
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Jul 21, 2011
I installed Windows 7 on one of my computers. I have another computer running Vista. Can I uninstall Windows 7 on my first computer and then reinstall Windows 7 on my other computer?
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Jul 21, 2012
I reinstalled Windows. When it was done, the internet disappeared! It says "Not connected - No connections are available". I try to troubleshoot it and it says to install a network adapter driver. My router is Linksys WRT54GS and my modem is ubee.
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Sep 14, 2011
I had multiple BSOD's on my laptop, i had to reinistall windows 7 because it could not boot up. After reinstalling and adding all drivers I got another blue screen.Please find attached the dmp file.
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Oct 14, 2012
I decided it was time to perform a clean installation. I just got my computer last year and I've never done it before. I have 2 hard drives, each 1 TB. My primary hard drive is partitioned. The first 882 GB is the Local Disk. It has everything on it, the OS, programs, data, etc. The other 48.8 GB has the Windows 8 pre-release installed on it. My secondary hard drive is used for backup. I use the default Windows backup program. I'm currently performing a backup and I plan on creating a system image after that. Once those finish, I'm going to partition my primary hard drive again for the new installation. How much space do I need to give Windows 7 on a partition?
I was also wondering what to do after reinstalling Windows. Do I restore from the system image? I thought reinstalling Windows then restoring would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? Also, what do the backups and system images cover? Should I just manually copy my programs and data to the internal backup hard drive? I just that that moving programs from where they installed then moving them back might mess some things up. I read somewhere that it would be smart to reinstall all programs. I wouldn't mind doing that, but there's one that concerns me. I'm a PC gamer and I use Steam. My Steam folder is almost 200 GB, please tell me I wouldn't have to download all my my games again...
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Jul 24, 2012
i reinstalled windows 7 64bit a few weeks and since then ive been having startup problems. BSOD, restart during welcome screen, freeze on starting windows screen etc.need to know if its a simple fix or should windows be reinstalled or is it a hardware issue?
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Apr 17, 2011
Windows 7 Home Premium X64 keeps re-installing the same existing USB drivers every time I plug in an USB device. This means every time I plug in my Wireless mouse, my printer, scanner, external hard drive... and so on I have to wait minutes before I can start using the device. Also, it does not just re-install the drivers from the hard disk, it does a lengthy check via windows update before it installs anything.
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