Changing CPU& Motherboard. Need to reinstall OS?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

ssj4david

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2009
19
0
18,510
Hi everyone,

So I am thinking about changing my CPU and Motherboard.

I currently have my O/S installed on an SSD, with games installed on a separate 1TB hard drive.

I know (correct me if I am wrong) that the OS would need to be reinstalled, but not sure about the other programs on the other drive.

Since the games are the really big programs, would I need to re-install them? I have games installed via Steam/ Origin/ Uplay, and I would like to know if there is a work-around, so I wouldn't have to reinstall the games or their save data when I transfer my SSD+HD to the new board.
Thanks!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
B

boosted1g

Titan
Jun 12, 2013
14,846
8
74,965
Most all programs will have to be reinstalled as the links are registry keys will not be there until you install them again.

Fort most all games you can save the data and restore it after you install it, you will need to lookup each game individually on how to do this.

As far as having to wipe windows that completely depends on what your setup is.
If going from intel to amd or vice versa then that is an automatic need to reinstall.
If jumping several generations you will most likley have to reinstall.
If you are only going up a generation or 2 or just upgrading from say an h87 board to z97 then you can likely just load the new drivers and be completely fine.

Now depending on what type/version of OS you have, the license key may become "not genuine" and need to be reactivated. You will have to call microsoft and just tell them the mobo died and you had to replace it and they should give you an activation key.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CrayZE

CrayZE

Reputable
Feb 7, 2015
152
0
4,690
Maybe, the retail version of windows supports up to 3 motherboards, as to the best of my knowledge, but if it only supports one, you will need a new windows key and your windows version will most likely not be "genuine" which may lead to other problems.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
gwapito

gwapito

Reputable
Sep 18, 2014
819
0
5,360
I had same issue last year, i upgraded from amd to intel cpu and mobo. Base on my experience OS will hold up as long as you reinstall new chipset, gpu drivers. So i did the upgrade w/o reinstalling windows and everything went fine and almost all program ran fine except for two games which was greatly affected. Metro ll and bf4. Fps went down. So instead of reinstalling the games i decided to reinstall windows then reinstall everything.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
royalcrown

royalcrown

Distinguished
May 31, 2006
2,614
1
20,960
If you are lucky it'll just see the new hardware and change drivers without reinstalling anything. I have done it before, it takes a long time and not guaranteed. One thing I did to speed it up was to uninstall the drivers in device manager, but that isn't necessary.

Just switch it over without doing anything, if windows can reinstall the drivers you can still wipe it and reinstall and haven't lost anything by trying it.
 
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