Changing Motherboards with the same chipset

Blahman11 · Apr 19, 2013

Hello

I'm replacing my current motherboard which is on its way out, which is an ASUS M4A3000E (M4A78 LT M LE) motherboard. The motherboard is a 760g chipset with SB710 (has to be, as although the ASUS website says 780g the manual says its the M4A78 LT M LE, which has a 760g). It is being replaced with a Gigabyte GA78 LMT USB3, which uses pretty much the same chipset. What I want to know is do I have to do anything to Windows? I'm willing to use sysprep, as I'd rather not reinstall everything, and I know I'll probably have to reactivate windows too. All I want to know is whether I can get away with plugging in the new motherboard without Windows 7 throwing a hissy fit? Or is sysprep in order?

Thanks for any help

completelyrandomname · Apr 19, 2013

The best thing to do is reinstall Windows. If you don't some previous files associated with the previous motherboard may not be compatible with the newer one.

bgunner · Apr 19, 2013

If you use the Win 7 disk and do a repair it should fix the needed files. don't do a restore but a repair. Basically it does a start up repair but more thorough and fixes the affected files.

Guest · Apr 19, 2013

I've done several motherboard swaps since 2009 using the same Windows OS, without wipping out the drive.

How i do it, and to make it work correctly is by deleting all the drivers and software that corresponds with the old motherboard. Also uninstall the Graphics driver of your GPU. Next use CCleaner to clean the registry. Also, remember to deactivate any software that is tied your machine. For example, itunes is tied up to 5 computers. By deactivating you will have 5 more instead of 4.

Now instal your new motherboard and boot up into windows.

Now click the start button, right click 'computer' and click properties. It will send you to control panel. Click 'advance system settings' -> 'Environment Variables' -> 'New" under the "User Variables for..."

Then type in the variable name: "devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices"
Next type the Variable Value: "1"

This will allow you to see the all devices from the previous motherboard in the device manager.

Go to "device manager" in the control panel. On the menu tab, click 'View'---> 'Show Hidden Devices'.

Now device manager show all shadow devices that were installed in your OS.
Uninstall all shadow devices (example PCI bus, USB Hub, ect..) by right clicking and clicking "uninstall"

Your system should be as responsive as if it was installed fresh. Now reinstall your GPU drivers, and install any motherboard drivers and software you wish to use.

-From experiance

P.S Just to be safe, first clone your OS to another hard drive (i use "MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 7.6"), so if you have any issues with the new motherboard, you can always go back to your old one.

p.s.s I use Windows Vista x64 Ultimate on my desktop, but it is similar to Windows 7.

I hope my advice helps you, and please reply back on your progress, becuase i am planing to upgrade the same motherboard you have. It is currently the best mATX AM3+ motherboard in the market right now.

bgunner · Apr 19, 2013

I've done several motherboard swaps since 2009 using the same Windows OS, without wipping out the drive.

How i do it, and to make it work correctly is by deleting all the drivers and software that corresponds with the old motherboard. Also uninstall the Graphics driver of your GPU. Next use CCleaner to clean the registry. Also, remember to deactivate any software that is tied your machine. For example, itunes is tied up to 5 computers. By deactivating you will have 5 more instead of 4.

Now instal your new motherboard and boot up into windows.

Now click the start button, right click 'computer' and click properties. It will send you to control panel. Click 'advance system settings' -> 'Environment Variables' -> 'New" under the "User Variables for..."

Then type in the variable name: "devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices"
Next type the Variable Value: "1"

This will allow you to see the all devices from the previous motherboard in the device manager.

Go to "device manager" in the control panel. On the menu tab, click 'View'---> 'Show Hidden Devices'.

Now device manager show all shadow devices that were installed in your OS.
Uninstall all shadow devices (example PCI bus, USB Hub, ect..) by right clicking and clicking "uninstall"

Your system should be as responsive as if it was installed fresh. Now reinstall your GPU drivers, and install any motherboard drivers and software you wish to use.

-From experiance

P.S Just to be safe, first clone your OS to another hard drive (i use "MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 7.6"), so if you have any issues with the new motherboard, you can always go back to your old one.

p.s.s I use Windows Vista x64 Ultimate on my desktop, but it is similar to Windows 7.

I hope my advice helps you, and please reply back on your progress, becuase i am planing to upgrade the same motherboard you have. It is currently the best mATX AM3+ motherboard in the market right now.

you cant say you have done so on the same OS then say you use Vista and it should be the same, and it be true. its either you have done it on win 7 or not.

use the disk like I mentioned and you will be fine.

EDIT: I do agree that removing the drivers for that motherboard before hand will help prevent conflicts.

Guest · Apr 19, 2013

bgunner :

you cant say you have done so on the same OS then say you use Vista and it should be the same, and it be true. its either you have done it on win 7 or not.

use the disk like I mentioned and you will be fine.

EDIT: I do agree that removing the drivers for that motherboard before hand will help prevent conflicts.

When i meant the same OS, i meant i used the same copy of Windows Vista since 2009. I also have Windows 7 on my laptop. Both Vista and Win 7 are very simillar, except 7 is a leaner, cleaner version of Vista.

bgunner · Apr 19, 2013

and is different in the install area also. I have had vista the same time as win 7 and am well aware of the differences. Yes in many ways they are similar as win 7 is just a remake of vista they are bound to be very similar. Either way, on this issue they differ.

Blahman11 · Apr 20, 2013

bgunner :

Ok I'm gonna try using the disc to do a repair install, that seems like the easiest thing in my view. Reason why I'd rather keep the install is that I have programs that I've downloaded off the internet (War Thunder, Planetside 2 etc) and they have rather large downloads, and I don't have the time or the download allowance to download them again. I assume doing a repair install won't 'reset' windows like sysprep does? From what I've read that deletes your files and resets the programs to as if they're gonna be used for the first time, so chrome has default settings etc.

Blahman11 · Apr 20, 2013

I've done several motherboard swaps since 2009 using the same Windows OS, without wipping out the drive.

How i do it, and to make it work correctly is by deleting all the drivers and software that corresponds with the old motherboard. Also uninstall the Graphics driver of your GPU. Next use CCleaner to clean the registry. Also, remember to deactivate any software that is tied your machine. For example, itunes is tied up to 5 computers. By deactivating you will have 5 more instead of 4.

Now instal your new motherboard and boot up into windows.

Now click the start button, right click 'computer' and click properties. It will send you to control panel. Click 'advance system settings' -> 'Environment Variables' -> 'New" under the "User Variables for..."

Then type in the variable name: "devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices"
Next type the Variable Value: "1"

This will allow you to see the all devices from the previous motherboard in the device manager.

Go to "device manager" in the control panel. On the menu tab, click 'View'---> 'Show Hidden Devices'.

Now device manager show all shadow devices that were installed in your OS.
Uninstall all shadow devices (example PCI bus, USB Hub, ect..) by right clicking and clicking "uninstall"

Your system should be as responsive as if it was installed fresh. Now reinstall your GPU drivers, and install any motherboard drivers and software you wish to use.

-From experiance

P.S Just to be safe, first clone your OS to another hard drive (i use "MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 7.6"), so if you have any issues with the new motherboard, you can always go back to your old one.

p.s.s I use Windows Vista x64 Ultimate on my desktop, but it is similar to Windows 7.

I hope my advice helps you, and please reply back on your progress, becuase i am planing to upgrade the same motherboard you have. It is currently the best mATX AM3+ motherboard in the market right now.

Well I installed the motherboard without doing anything and it is working fine, not slow and stable too. Everything reactivated fine too. I haven't done anything with the board yet but it's very well built and there are a fair few options with overclocking and core unlocking in the bios. The fact that it has decent mosfets which are heatsinked suggests that its not gonna be a bad overclocker at all when I get round to doing it.

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Changing Motherboards with the same chipset

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