Do you have to reinstall Windows when you get a new motherboard?

[Nejco]

Some people say yes others say no. So should I or it isn't necessery?

[Silicon Vampire]

I always do a fresh install. Can save a lot of trouble down the road...

[_I_]

intel -> intel, no
amd -> amd, no
but mobo drivers should be updated

and -> intel, yes
intel -> amd, yes

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Yeah, never hurts to do that, usually saves you from some trouble.

[Nejco]

If I don't, should I uninstall drivers for current one before I install new one?

[Rove]

No you don't but you should uninstall old drivers and install new ones also you may need to reactivate. You need only re-install Windows when you get a new HDD or SSD that you want the OS to be on.

[Maverick]

the dvd key for windows is assigned to the motherboard and microsoft will not re-activate and you will have to buy another copy of windows.
2 of my friends went through this and I warned them as I have a very good friend at microsoft by my 2 friends didn't listen to me and had to buy windows again.
it is possible to replace the motherboard and not reinstall windows by booting from the disk and running windows reapir.

[_I_]

oem license will be difficult to transfer, but retail copys can be transfered easier

[100% Recycled Awesome]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Nejc:

Some people say yes others say no. So should I or it isn't necessery?

Required? No.

Highly suggested? Absolutely.

I've never heard anyone who went with a replacement MOBO who didn't have serious problems without reinstalling Windows.

[Rove]

I didn't have problems so count me as the first you've heard of. Rather then switching motherboard I just switch around HDDs between systems and it works fine.

[100% Recycled Awesome]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Rove:

I didn't have problems so count me as the first you've heard of. Rather then switching motherboard I just switch around HDDs between systems and it works fine.

I've personally done it once as a quickfix and Windows was totally not having any of it. It wouldn't even let me into safemode.

Other people I've spoken to said it's just not worth the hassle. You spend less time just reinstalling software rather than dealing with the problems.

[Silicon Vampire]

If the motherboards are close to the same components, it really isn't much of an issue. If even one of the components is different, it CAN cause problems.

I always recommend a fresh install, upgrade and set up everything, then use the built in features of Vista above use them make an image file to your preferred media.

A couple of hours now can save tens of hours later...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/back-up-programs-system-settings-files#1TC=windows-7

[Silicon Vampire]

News flash? Windows isn't Linux. Go on with your bad self.

[Nejco]

I guess I'll try without fresh install, but if I'll have a lot of problems, I'll do it

[labyrinth]

I have a Windows 7 which is 3 or 4 years old and working just fine. It had a motherboard, a RAM & a hard drive change. When the main hard drive started failing I simply cloned the Windows drive.

[HongMeilingsBiggestFan]

Not really. Your operating system should be fine when you install a new motherboard.