Will I keep my programs with a Windows 8 system image after switching motherboards?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990
Ive been wanting to upgrade my cpu for a while to go from my current 6800k apu to an AMD FX 8350 and obviously i would need a new mobo to fit the different socket type and with more PCI-e slots for SLI graphics cards in the future maybe. Anyways, i know that usually after you switch mobos, you will have to reinstall windows and youll lose programs. So i thought all you would do is just do a standard backup to an external hard drive, but people told me that if i restore from a backup after reinstalling widnows, my programs wont be there still. Is that true? So after some more research lately i found that you can do a system image and recover from that to keep programs and settings, and i want to know if that would work. Basically i want to upgrade to a different CPU and mobo, and keep all my current programs and settings and have it be completely the same afterwards. How can i achieve this?
I hear that Windows 8 is better about new hardware and that you dont need to reinstall windows after replacing the mobo, is that true? But of course every experience is different and rumors are everywhere.
Anyways, would that system image thing work to achieve my goal and if so, how would i do it? Also, what about just backing up my current system to an external hard drive and restoring from that backup after if i have to reinstall windows?
Any feedback and help is hugely appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. i would be keeping my current internal Hard Drive and will always be working off that one
 
Solution
yanis31
i have done this numerous times with windows 7 and 8 - trust me you have nothing to worry about, windows will just detect the new devices, (cpu, motherboard, chipset etc. and install automatic drivers first time you boot,
if you want to do a backup do it rather after you do the upgrade otherwise it will have only the old device installations on it and you will go through the process again if you restore from a backup (of course you can do it twice if you want) - i had a 5 year old wd harddrive fail on me a few days ago (electronics not the drive itself) and i made a backup in the same morning so i know the benefits - make them once in a while and store in a safe place, you don't have to necessarily make a backup image .. regular backup...
Sort by date Sort by votes
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
you dont have to reinstall windows... on windows 8 you will lose your activation since it's connected to the motherboard but that's it.. everything will work if you just plug the hard drive in the new motherboard... it will install something first time you boot up .. some drivers for the new devices etc.
-you might also lose licenses to some programs but everything else will stay intact
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Either way I want to back it all up like how I asked, just in case. The computer is shared by my parents, so if I lose everything, they'll go crazy and I will too. I have like 350gb of stuff right now on my pc. Better safe than sorry.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
i have done this numerous times with windows 7 and 8 - trust me you have nothing to worry about, windows will just detect the new devices, (cpu, motherboard, chipset etc. and install automatic drivers first time you boot,
if you want to do a backup do it rather after you do the upgrade otherwise it will have only the old device installations on it and you will go through the process again if you restore from a backup (of course you can do it twice if you want) - i had a 5 year old wd harddrive fail on me a few days ago (electronics not the drive itself) and i made a backup in the same morning so i know the benefits - make them once in a while and store in a safe place, you don't have to necessarily make a backup image .. regular backup is just compressed to take up less space and when restored result is the same - like there were no changes to the harddrive whatsoever...
acronis true image is a nice software but honestly you can make them via windows as well... (acronis allows to save backup file on same hdd / windows doesn't, with acronis you can make a bootable disk where you can do the backup actions before loading windows, their backups can be made windows backup compatible etc. etc. )
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Thanks for all the info. So a normal backup to an external HDD will backup my programs, settings, and files, so that if I restore from the backup my computer will be exactly the same? About the system image, I know windows has a feature for that and I would be using it, and I actually prefer it be saved somewhere besides the same HDD, like into an external hdd.

I know i will have to do a new backup after the upgrade and stuff, but right now I'm concerned about keeping all my current data so after the hardware upgrade, I will still hve all my data and programs in case of a worst case scenario.

Tell me a little more about a system image, what is the benefit of doing that besides a normal backup, right before the hardware change. Will a normal backup save my entire pc, so after a restore from it on a fresh windows install everything would be the same? What would a restore from a system image do if I have to re install windows after the hardware change?
Sorry, but I just want to be 10000% ready
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
basically restoring from a backup after hardware change will put you in 100% the same place as when you turn on your pc for the first time after the hardware change.

the restore from image will make the hdd identical to its previous state
-kind of the same as doing a drive "clone" just the image might get compressed to save space and uncompressed back during restore -in regular backup you might be given choices of what to save, just your documents or all files and programs/settings or just save everything as per the image... i know acronis gives some options ... haven't done much with regular windows backup... but since windows 7 it should be pretty good, still 3rd party software usually has more options

here are some alternatives you can do when something goes wrong:

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-is/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc

and my favorite:

upgrade/repair windows without losing files/installations/settings

-launch windows installation DVD / media (i know only about the DVD - windows setup has to be launched from within windows for it to work, not BIOS) - don't click on the repair computer in lower left corner which will take you to the previous options,
Instead Click on the big "Install Windows Now",
go along until you see 2 choices - Upgrade/Repair and Custom(advanced) - click on Upgrade - The other option will install a fresh copy and lose all your data,
this setup takes a bit longer than clean install but it keeps your pc intact,
just windows itself is freshly installed with all your games and programs there and ready to use...
some drivers might need reinstall or setting adjustments (my soundblaster and amd catalyst went to default settings)
... other than that all good.

- it's called upgrade in win7 and Upgrade/repair in win8 - does the same thing,
just remember that this is doable only with the same or higher version of windows since it's initial purpose was to upgrade to a newer version by keeping your pc the same...
also ive only used win7 ultimate and win8 pro ... inferior evrsions might not have this feature
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


So then what is the difference between backing up everything and making a system image? Like which should one do, do a complete backup before hardware change then restore from that backup after the hardware change if all the programs and data is lost, or do a system image before and restore from that system image after if all data is lost?

Just to get this crystal clear, if i do a complete backup before i change mobos and i end up having to re install windows or lose my data after i put in the new mobo, what will my computer be like after i restore from that backup? What about with a system restore (in place of the backup) in the same scenario?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
do a system image - it will restore your entire drive to a identical state .. full backup will probably be quicker, im actually not 100% sure on all the details of the full backup but image/clone is what you are looking for if you want to have 0 changes

- for instance acronis does the cloning outside windows - it boots itself up after restart since you can't copy all the windows system files etc. while in windows - therefore it's a raw - "track" of your drive that gets copied,
again - acronis has the options to backup to a bigger or smaller disk/partition - not sure how this would go via windows... maybe you would create a partition of identical size on the other drive ... not sure
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
lastly - acronis true image 2014 has a 30 day trial so you can use it free .. cloning didnt work in trial tho, but for you there will be plenty options,
last night i managed to transfer a existing windows installation with all programs and settings from a old IDE hard drive to a sata SSD drive, granted there were issues but that's another story - Windows could never do that so acronis ftw!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Thanks, one of my last questions now, should i just use the built in Windows system image feature? I would like to have the image saved to probably an external hard drive in case i have to re install windows when i boot up for first time after the mobo change.
That leads to another question, if i save the image to my current internal HDD, which has windows installed on it, and i have to re-install windows after i boot up after the mobo swap, would i be able to recover from that system image i made prior to the hardware change? or would the system image i made be deleted or anything? If the system image was to stay (even after having to re-install windows), i wouldnt need to buy an external hard drive to save the image to right?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
Nothing will happen after you change the motherboard.

now that that's out of the way - use whichever you like best - both will get the job done,

theres probably a reason why its not recommended to store the backup on installation drive ... i think you answered your question already
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Believe me I really hope you're right about that first part, a lot of people agree too so fingers crossed when it time for the swap.
Anyways, I already found out that even with a restore from a system image after the swap, if windows won't boot, it will sti keep refusing to boot for obvious reasons. Also, ill just backup to an external HDD and save a system image to the same external HDD just incase.
When its time to swap mobos, ill just do the hardware change, boot up, and if it works all smooth like you said, then ill be golden, but if it won't boot ican just put back the old mobo anyways and keep working.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
i have switched motherboards and also processors and hard drives on same motherboard on windows 7 ultimate and windows 8 pro a few times, last one being 2 days ago - that is why i'm confident,
on older versions like windows xp or older i can't say what would happen.
doublecheck what kind of connection your drive is using - my guess is sata unless you have a ancient pc - so no problems there ..
if your sata was set to ahci do the same in bios for new board or if it was ide then do ide (ssd's need ahci to work properly) try to stick with same port, you know - primay if it was primary etc. and maybe remove other hard drives the first time you try to boot up...
other than that i see no problems here...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Well i just really hope in my case when i swap mobos, Windows 8 will just not panic and just allow me to keep everything the way it is now.
Yes, I am using SATA. As far as ide or ahci, i have no clue what its set at now, ive never even heard of ide or ahci, i just plugged in my HDD into the first SATA port and i have never since messed with any settings in the BIOS or anywhere else that concern the HDD. I see on another post here on Tom's: "If you plan to get a SSD later then go AHCI: it is necessary for using trim on a SSD. Use IDE only if you need it for a legacy drive." But i still dont know if i would have to mess with its settings in the BIOS now or after the mobo swap, so some advice there is needed. I would be using the same normal HDD as i do now, cant afford an SSD now or a different HDD. I am only using one HDD so i dont have to worry about other drives, besides the SATA DVD drive i have plugged in too, but that shouldnt be a problem

EDIT: I also just read that you cant switch from IDE to AHCI or vice versa, "once you load the operating system you cannot enable ahci unless you do the reistry hack or reload windows." So that kinda sucks, hopefully it was set to AHCI as default, but i dont plan on using a SSD any time soon.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


I know its always best to do that, but its not practical for me. I simply cant lose all my programs and data, which comes up to like a total of 350GB.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060


well i just transfered an existing windows 8 pro installation from a old IDE HDD and a motherboard that didn't even have AHCI mode selectable in bios to a new motherboard and a SSD,
acronis true image 2014 did this, so it is actually possible
-granted i ran into some issues at first but once i adjusted the controller settings it started to work,
if i set the SATA controller to IDE windows crashes to bluescreen during boot but if i set AHCI all works fine,
my suggestion in a case where you would need to go for a ssd is use acronis to restore the backup to a ahci enabled controller like this, and if youre still not confident - you can go through the upgrade/repair option afterwards which reinstalls windows but keeps your data and programs safe.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
straight from wikipedia:
Boot issues[edit]
Some operating systems, notably Windows Vista and Windows 7, do not configure themselves to load the AHCI driver upon boot if the SATA-drive controller was not in AHCI mode at the time of installation. This can cause failure to boot, with an error message, if the SATA controller is later switched to AHCI mode. For this reason, Intel recommends changing the drive controller to AHCI or RAID before installing an operating system.[1] (It may also be necessary to load chipset-specific AHCI or RAID drivers — from a USB flash drive, for example — at installation time.)
On Windows Vista and Windows 7, this can be fixed configuring the msahci device driver to start at boot time (rather than on-demand). Setting non-AHCI mode in the BIOS will allow the user to boot Windows, where the required registry change can be performed. The BIOS can then be changed to AHCI.
On Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, the name of the controller has changed from msahci to storahci, and the procedure to upgrade to the new controller to it is similar to that of Windows. On Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, changing the SATA mode to AHCI without updating the registry will make the boot drive inaccessible.
A similar problem can occur on Linux systems if the AHCI driver is built as a module, rather than included in the kernel, as it may not be loaded into the initrd (initial RAM disk) created when in legacy mode; the solution is to build a new initrd containing the AHCI module.

set it to AHCI either way on the new board before booting windows if it isn't that way by default already... its probably compatible with the IDE installation if you had one, just not the other way around, if indeed it turns out that it isn't you can do what i did and youll be fine in the future when you transfer to ssd....

EDIT: in my case i am not 100% sure what fixed my issue with the ssd - it failed to boot windows first few times but it loaded Safe mode with networking when i tried - and from that point regular boot also started working,
so maybe windows realised while loading safe mode that it needs to load the ahci driver on boot..
for safe measure i did the repair installation afterwards so now it's as good as a new installation...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


I thought changing it to ahci or IDE was hard drive specific? Either way, if I change the hard drive to use ahci, won't it get formatted like any time you switch it to ahci with windows installed?
Also, you said with a repair installation, you keep programs and data, right? Would that be an option for me if I had to re install windows after the mobo swap?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
it is an option only if you can boot windows since it won't allow to use this option from windows setup that you launch in bios - you have to launch it from within windows.

Well Yes And No -
IDE(PATA) or SATA is the connection (cable) type you use to connect the drive to the motherboard,

and AHCI, RAID or IDE is the mode your motherboard's SATA controller works in -
- you can choose it in bios any time,
Just windows remembers in which mode it was installed - that's the entire issue here

cheaper motherboards like my lga775 chipset g41 one didn't have ahci mode available in bios,
SSD needs ahci mode for "trim" to work, whether the drive can work at all without ahci - i don't know.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
1
10,990


Well it doesnt matter because i got good news. Seems AHCI is already selected, must have been by default since you said IDE is PATA which i believe is legacy now. Went into BIOS before windows booted and was glad to find this http://
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom