Swapping Asus Motherboards and Windows 8.1 Question

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stratman62

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Hi everyone I have a quick question about upgrading my motherboard.

I currently have an Asus H81M-E Micro ATX. It works fine but is limited with its expansion and limited to 16GB RAM.

I currently purchased an Asus Maximus VI Gene DDR3 1600 Intel Z87 LGA 1150 from Amazon. (It's a Micro ATX)

I am keeping my CPU which is a 4th gen i7 4770s

My question is: What kind of preparations should I engage in, in terms of Windows 8.1 drivers and anything on my hard drive. Should I back up all my files? Should I prepare for a clean reinstall?

Any help would be appreciated, and thank you.
 
Solution
USAFRet


Ah, so it is an OEM license. That license key is embedded in the motherboard. You can't transfer it to a new motherboard.

What will happen is, after replacing the board, on starting the OS will say "Hey! there is no license key! Please enter the license key."
Which you don't have, because it exists on the old motherboard.

So, you'll probably have to...
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stratman62

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Thank you for responding. I did not buy or install it myself. I bought the computer essentially how it was right out of the box from Best Buy. The only other changes I've made to it was a graphics card update.


 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Ah, so it is an OEM license. That license key is embedded in the motherboard. You can't transfer it to a new motherboard.

What will happen is, after replacing the board, on starting the OS will say "Hey! there is no license key! Please enter the license key."
Which you don't have, because it exists on the old motherboard.

So, you'll probably have to buy a new OS with the new board.
Sucks, but that is the main limitation of a preinstalled OEM license.
 
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stratman62

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Thank you for your help. Dear lord that's not at all what I wanted to hear though haha. I had no intention of purchasing Windows 8. Any chance I could bring it into best buy and enlighten them on my situation? Or maybe call Microsoft and ask for a new registration code?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Calling MS or talking to BestBuy (or the actual manufacturer) is a possibility. But that is one of the issues with a preinstalled OEM instlall. It is indeed licensed to that original motherboard.
And with Windows 8, the license key exists in the motherboard. Change the board, and that does not exist anymore.
That is one of the reasons it was 'cheap'...:) You didn't license the OS from MS or BB, but rather the manufacturer of the system.

If you talk to BB or MS, just say "Hey, if I do this, what would happen?" MS will almost certainly say "Buy a new one"
In case of a verified broken/replaced motherboard, you could almost certainly get a new license. But for a new one, 'just because'....maybe not.
 
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stratman62

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So I went to best buy and you were absolutely right. Windows was physically on the motherboard. I ended up buying the retail version of 8.1. I also purchased an external hard drive.

Is there somewhere on this website that will give me some guidance into backing up all my files, games, programs etc? Plus, should I "deactivate" my current windows before installing the new motherboard? Everything is Cloud based nowadays I really don't want to create an entire new "identity" so to speak.

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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-Copy all your personal docs (music/doc/video/etc) onto the new external
-Find all of your application install files and disks. Copy those files to the external
-Track down ALL your username/passwords. Save those in a text file or something, along with whatever site or application they go with.
-For games, if you use Steam...copy your SteamApps folder to the external
-Get all the drivers for your new motherboard. What is on the included CD may not be the most recent, so look at asus.com. Save those on a USB stick.

Install:
Take out the old board
Install the new board. (CPU, thermal paste, cooler)
Have only the target drive connected
Install the OS
Once everything is actually running properly, install whatever drivers you need. LAN, etc.
Install all the OS updates
Once all that is done.....connect the external and any other drives. Start to install your applications and move files as you see fit.
 
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stratman62

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USAFRet, Thank you so much for the taking the time to write all that out, I really appreciate it. I checked amazon and my motherboard is currently "out for delivery" so hopefully by the days end I'll post an update. One last question if you don't mind.

Is there anyway to deactivate Windows 8.1 on my current computer? It's tied to my most used email address and it's important that I can continue to use the same address. Plus my current windows 8.1 has my full name etc.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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You shouldn't need to 'deactivate'. Just install and use the same account info.
 
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stratman62

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Ok great, thank you again
 
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stratman62

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So I swapped out the boards. Booted up the computer and everything is running exactly how I left it. I'm a bit confused as it seems as if nothing has changed (pleasantly surprised though). I was expecting to have to reinstall Windows 8.1.

One thing I noticed is that when I press F2 or Del during the boot up to take me to the BIOS page my CPU fan runs very loud and my CPU seems to be at a very high temperature 142 F. But when just loading my computer and using it like normal it runs flawlessly.

Any ideas on what this could be?
 
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