Want to upgrade Mobo CPU, and RAM on my gaming PC, but dont want to reinstall windows and lose all data.

ajsski99 · Oct 26, 2016

Heya, I am looking to upgrade my gaming PC with a new CPU, Motherboard, and RAM but have heard that I will have to format my hard drive and lose all my data. Plus it sounds like i will have to buy a new version of windows too.

so I was wondering if this process is possible but without having to lose all my data and buy windows again. IF so, how would I go about doing it?

All answers are much appreciated, Ajsski99

BadActor · Oct 26, 2016

Possible, but not recommended. You can uninstall the motherboard drivers and then do the swap. It may or may not work, though. Even if it does reboot and install new drivers, you still run the risk of having weird performance issues. Back up your data (which you should be doing anyway) and do a clean install to avoid any problems.

Unolocogringo · Oct 26, 2016

this may be of help to you.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html

ajsski99 · Oct 26, 2016

BadActor :

how do i back up my data? it will be hard for me as i have an SSd as boot drive and 1tb HDD as main storage. plus does this mean im going to have to spend another £120 to get windows again?

ajsski99 · Oct 26, 2016

Unolocogringo :

i dont have windows 7

BadAsAl · Oct 26, 2016

If you have Windows 10 Anniversary then your license is tied to your Microsoft Account (assuming you use one) and you will be able to activate Windows 10 even if you change hardware.

If you don't have programs installed to the storage drive and simply use it for your files, then no matter what you do with the SSD those files will still be there when you swap the parts out and install all your hardware. (although those should also be backed up somewhere else as other poster stated).

I have had mixed results when moving a boot drive to another computer. I would recommend having a bootable Windows installation USB or DVD handy to repair things if it doesn't boot.

Unless you tell us the motherboard you are going from and to, it will be hard to tell you if this will work. You may get lucky and find someone on here has done the exact swap you are doing and can report if they ran into issues or not.

ajsski99 · Oct 27, 2016

BadAsAl :

If you have Windows 10 Anniversary then your license is tied to your Microsoft Account (assuming you use one) and you will be able to activate Windows 10 even if you change hardware.

If you don't have programs installed to the storage drive and simply use it for your files, then no matter what you do with the SSD those files will still be there when you swap the parts out and install all your hardware. (although those should also be backed up somewhere else as other poster stated).

I have had mixed results when moving a boot drive to another computer. I would recommend having a bootable Windows installation USB or DVD handy to repair things if it doesn't boot.

Unless you tell us the motherboard you are going from and to, it will be hard to tell you if this will work. You may get lucky and find someone on here has done the exact swap you are doing and can report if they ran into issues or not.

My HDD is mainly used for Steam games etc, so would the same still apply? Also, how would I back up both drives?

Search

Want to upgrade Mobo CPU, and RAM on my gaming PC, but dont want to reinstall windows and lose all data.

ajsski99

Reputable

BadActor

Expert

Unolocogringo

Illustrious

ajsski99

Reputable

ajsski99

Reputable

BadAsAl

Distinguished

ajsski99

Reputable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page