CPU and Motherboard Change

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DBentt

Honorable
Nov 26, 2013
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Hello,

I'm going to be swapping out my motherboard and CPU tomorrow evening. More details:

Current: Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H + i5 2500k
New: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming + i7 4770k


So my question is, will I be required to do a full format and reinstall of Windows 7 due to such a drastic change in motherboard chipset and CPU, or will it boot into Windows and just ask me to reactivate/uninstall old motherboard drivers and install new ones? I have a partition set up on my secondary SSD just in case, would I at least be able to install Windows on that partition but keep my registry and everything in tact? I would definitely prefer just being able to keep my existing data and programs in tact if possible.

Thanks.
 
Solution
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Turns out that I didn't have to reinstall, repair, or otherwise change Windows at all after swapping the motherboard or CPU. It booted no problem.
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Phillip Corcoran

Phillip Corcoran

Titan
Moderator
Sep 7, 2013
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"will I be required to do a full format and reinstall of Windows 7"

Indeed you will. Windows needs to familiarise itself with the new motherboard and create a new Product ID string.
It can only do that during Windows Setup.

It is not possible to install Windows afresh yet keep your existing registry & installed programs.
As for your data, just make sure you back it up so that it can be restored if necessary. You should be doing that on a regular basis anyway.
 
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DBentt

Honorable
Nov 26, 2013
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0
10,520
Mm this swap is looking a lot less attractive, then. Could've sworn that there was a way to install Windows using an older installation of Windows' settings and all that, and it left a windows.old file. Not sure that the gain in streaming/video recording performance will be worth the time it takes me to reinstall several terabytes worth of data.
 
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DBentt

Honorable
Nov 26, 2013
8
0
10,520
Turns out that I didn't have to reinstall, repair, or otherwise change Windows at all after swapping the motherboard or CPU. It booted no problem.
 
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