reinstall vista for CPU upgrade

[jimbonewbie]

I am going to get a q6600 to replace my e4500. When doing so will I need to reinstall windows or will it be like a new piece of hardware, put it in boot it up and its good to go. The place where I get my computer stuff does trade ins, so I will be getting $110 towards a q6600 upgrade. Also will the mother board bios need to be set back to default settings or does this get done automatically for a cpu replacement. I am asking this b/c my e4500 is currently OCD to 2.66

 

[boonality]

You shouldn't have to re-install windows but yes you should clear CMOS on your BIOS.

 

[agfarrugia]

You may have to active vista again after changing the CPU. It is part of MS bullsh1t anti priacy. I know it is needed, but you should be able to upgrade a pc

 

[Taelron]

You are permitted 6 hardware changes per 6 months with Windows XP and Vista before it goes and revalidates.

 

[mitch074]

in practice, going from a dual core to a quad core won't ask you more than a potential revalidation, if even (I don't think the CPU is taken into account here, as it's essentially motherboard, graphics card and hard disk that are monitored).

 

[rochin]

I went from a E6600 to the Q6600 and did not have any reactivation issues.

 

[skittle]

You may have to active vista again after changing the CPU. It is part of MS bullsh1t anti priacy. I know it is needed, but you should be able to upgrade a pc

Its not anti-piracy... Its part of the OEM liscense... which basically says you are allowed one copy of windows to one PC. At a certain point after enough upgrades it becomes quite arguable that the upgraded PC is a new/different PC from the original.

Most of the time the only thing that prompts this is a motherboard swap, not a CPU upgrade.

 

[Scotteq]

Definitely clear the CMOS and therefore any overclocking you may have set up. Regarding Vista - At most it'll want the licence revalidated. Just re-enter the licence key when prompted and follow the instructions. If you've used your allotment of reactivations, you'll be prompted to call Microsoft - Just tell the call center troll you upgraded the CPU on your existing machine and need revalidate the licence key. Takes 5 minutes.