Will a reformatted hard drive with windows 7 work with a new gigabyte motherboard?

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imnotagamer007

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Feb 22, 2014
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Right now I have a hard drive with windows 7 on it but I'm using a lame OEM motherboard. I would like to move this hard drive over to my new build so I don't have to spend $100 on a windows 7 disk. So if I reformat it can i move it to a new motherboard without any problems?
 
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photonboy
Windows 7 can only be transferred to a motherboard with the same SOCKET (supports same CPU's). This is considered a "repair" process for when a motherboard repairs and you replace it with the same exact board, or same socket.

If you REFORMAT Windows 7 would install fine, but you would not be able to Activate.

*You can however, at least TRY, because I've heard of it working in some cases even though it goes against Microsoft's official policy.
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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Windows 7 can only be transferred to a motherboard with the same SOCKET (supports same CPU's). This is considered a "repair" process for when a motherboard repairs and you replace it with the same exact board, or same socket.

If you REFORMAT Windows 7 would install fine, but you would not be able to Activate.

*You can however, at least TRY, because I've heard of it working in some cases even though it goes against Microsoft's official policy.
 
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Paperdoc

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Oct 19, 2006
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You MUST realize that "REFORMAT" means you wipe ALL of the information off the HDD and start blank. So you have NO Windows on it, and MUST re-install from a CD.

To prevent such a disaster, Windows usually refuses to let you Format the C: drive that contains itself.

As photonboy suggests, wiping that old drive clean and then re-installing in the "new" machine with the new mobo IS a good idea. But you need that Windows Install CD to do it.

By the way, an even better way to wipe a HDD and get any weak sectors fixed up is to do a Zero Fill operation on it using some third-party utility - Windows does not do this job.
 
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