Replacing Motherboard and CPU and I have an OS Re-Install question.

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Jeff Kaos

Jeff Kaos

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Apr 6, 2014
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I'm going to be upgrading both my motherboard and CPU and I know I need to reinstall the OS on my boot drive which I plan on doing a clean install on. I also have a 4TB drive that I use mainly as my gaming drive and besides all the gaming front ends like Steam and GoG as well as my actual gaming library stored on it. I also backed up all the files from my main drive that I want to keep. My question is what will I need to do with my gaming drive in order to use it to play games? Someone told me that I'll need to reinstall the games and the gaming apps. Does this mean I should uninstall them first and then reinstall them? Can someone explain to me what the best method for me woulde b? I've never replaced a CPU and motherboard without doing a complete wipe of all drives before but that was when I did computer repair and I'm trying to keep things simple with my own system. Would it be best to just backup everything externally and just wipe everything and start from scratch?
 
Solution
geofelt
Is your OS 7 or 10?
10 is likely to be able to boot to your old hard drive so you only would need to install the new drivers that come with your motherboard.
If 7, you may be able to boot if the chipsets are similar. Not likely if you are moving from amd to intel.

I suggest you take this as a good opportunity to move to a SSD for the os.
250 gb Samsung evo would be my choice.
Leave your hard drive disconnected during the clean install.
When you reattach it later, all of your data files will be accessible.
Unfortunately, since you now have an empty registry, apps that depend on the registry will need to be reinstalled.

If your games are steam games, I understand that there is a procedure to migrate those games without reinstalling.
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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Is your OS 7 or 10?
10 is likely to be able to boot to your old hard drive so you only would need to install the new drivers that come with your motherboard.
If 7, you may be able to boot if the chipsets are similar. Not likely if you are moving from amd to intel.

I suggest you take this as a good opportunity to move to a SSD for the os.
250 gb Samsung evo would be my choice.
Leave your hard drive disconnected during the clean install.
When you reattach it later, all of your data files will be accessible.
Unfortunately, since you now have an empty registry, apps that depend on the registry will need to be reinstalled.

If your games are steam games, I understand that there is a procedure to migrate those games without reinstalling.
 
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Solution
Jeff Kaos

Jeff Kaos

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Apr 6, 2014
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Thanks. And yes, I'm going from a super cheap AMD setup to a high end Intel i5 660K/ GTX 1070 build. I'm trying to recycle as many parts as possible which is why I'm not going to be able to upgrade to an SSD at this time. As it is all of the components I've bought so far has come close to a thousand dollars. And to some people an extra $50 or so for an SSD isn't that big of a deal but it is to me; especially since I realized there's a good chance I'll have to buy a new OS. So I'm going to be sticking with my current drive setup for the time being. Eventually I'll upgrade to an SSD but not today.

After reinstalling the OS and everything start's up I'll reattach my media drive. If I need to reinstall software, such as Steam or any of the games (I only have games from online retailers currently installed) will I need to uninstall or otherwise delete the old content? Or will I be prompted to reinstall a game or something and it'll just overwrite the data that's already there? In case you can't tell I'm definitely NOT a software person. Thanks for the help.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
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174,240
Is your OS 7 or 10?

MS seems to be very lenient about moving a OS from one motherboard to another. Even if it is oem.
Make a record of your current activation code before you do anything.
A free app called "magical jellybean keyfinder" will tell you.

At activation time, you may be invited to do a phone activation. The key question MS is interested in is that this copy of windows is used nowhere else.

If that saves you $100 for an os, use the budget to buy a SSD.
Samsung has a free ssd migration aid that will move your "C" drive to one of their ssd's.

What are your current parts, and what are the parts you are looking to buy?
Perhaps there are some ideas to save you money and be able to justify a ssd.
Believe me, a SSD is one of the most satisfying performance upgrades you can make.
 
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Jeff Kaos

Jeff Kaos

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Apr 6, 2014
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My Os is Windows 7.

Actually I may be able to swing a 120 GB SSD for my OS. I see a SanDisk, Kingston and Radeon that'll fit my budget.

I'm going from an AMD fx8300/GTX 750 ti to an Intel i5 6600k/MSI GTX 1070 Gamer X. I'm putting them on an ASUS Z170-A board with 16gb of Corsair Vengeance DDR 4 ram and powered by a SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V.

*edit*
I've already ordered everything and its all on the way and I should have everything by next week. I sat on the fence and did a lot of research to pick the parts that'll get me the most bang for my buck and I used some earned credit and other rebates/discounts I had saved up to shave as much from the prices as i could.
 
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