Reinstall of windows for new board & chip???

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shutterspeed

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I know this is in the FAQ, but is there any way to preserve my system and applications when upgrading to a new board and chip?

I tried this recently between two laptops...my Acer (a great machine for the buck by the way) finally gave up the ghost, and I had to buy a Dell Inspiron. When I went to clone the old drive to the new one, it just would not take. Even a windows repair would not work?

Is there some kind of reason for this? Why, with all of the PnP stuff and whatnot, why in the world is this the case? I dont understand why it is so hard for windows to simply detect a new processor or hardware when it boots and make the necessarry adjustments. Why isnt there some kind of bootable program that will modify the necesarry windows files on the hard drive? It just doesnt seem like it would be all that tough?

Is it a software piracy issue?

My problem is that I am a photographer, and I have all kinds of settings and whatnot in Photoshop and other programs that will not transfer. I have plug-ins that can be reinstalled, but the settings all reset. There are also actions that have some dll files associated with them that will not transfer either. Yes, most of them I can install again, but they reset everything. Its a huge pain in the but, and honestly I am not likely to ever get it back to where I like it again. Same goes for other apps as well.

I tried a laplink product, and it didnt work. I don't see why they make that program where you have to have two bootable windows installs to transfer one to the other. What the heck is the value of that when you have a machine go out on you?

Ultimately, other than a hard disk failure, what good is backing up system and application files? If you cant apply them to a different computer (one that you replace a major part in) then it is futile.

Not to mention that I have about 80 different apps installed, and most of them are not exactly new, and once you install them, you have to update them all online. It would take me literally an entire week of work to get the everything installed, and it still would not be the same.

Does anyone have a plan for me? My current machine is woroking, but I heard an electrical kind of "pop" sound the other night, and now it is only seeing 2GB of my 4GB of RAM (yes I know windows only sees 3, but my BIOS is only seeing 2 as well. I played with the sticks and switched them around, and it appears to be the slot on the mobo, so I know the mobo is compromised now and need to replace it)

The only thing I can think of is to build a whole new machine. That sucks.

So how could I do this with just buying a new mobo chip and ram? Can anyone think of a procedure using any kind of software that would preserve my system?

I cant beleive this is so hard and PITA. Like my grandfather would say "We can put a man on the moon, but we cant seem to make a decent __________(insert whatever...)"

Please help!

Thanks

Scott
 
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shutterspeed

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I have not bought the new one yet. I really dont have the time to jack with the whole reinstall mess right now. But...

I am running an Asus A8N-SLI Premium with an AMD Athlon 64 3700+. With the new CS4 suite and all the multil core stuff out there being so affordable, I need to upgrade now. So with the funny behavior of my current mobo, I think I have to before it craps, while there is still some chance of migrating the way I want.

So...I think I have arrived at one of two options for my budget

MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum Motherboard - nForce 750a, Socket AM2+, ATX, Audio, Video, DVI, PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, SATA, RAID, SLI for 119 bucks

or

ASUS M3N72-D AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard 129 bucks

Both have the same chipset.

I tend to prefer Asus boards. Always had good experiences with them. But I am told the quality is pretty good accross the market these days and its rare to get a bad board with any of them. The MSI board has an edge because it has ESATA ports. So I am leaning in that direction, but have no experience with MSI.

Anyway, there you go. Thanks for the help.

I like mutil Video Card capability, and it seems those boards are getting less common. I am running some older cards right now (Dualk 7600 GS 512) but will upgrade a little bit later.

Maybe that is TMI, but I appreciate your help.

I really hope there is a way to do this...

SRM
 
thenewnumber2

thenewnumber2

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If you stick with the same chipset for your new mobo, it should be no problem, as GhislainG has stated. A different chipset MAY work, but you won't know if it worked until you try (which is a very bad time to find out!).

If you must go with a different chipset, go to the device manager and delete all motherboard- specific drivers before the last shutdown, then install the HD in the new build. If all goes well (but it probably won't), Windows will detect the new hardware correctly and you'll be good to go.

The New Number 2
 
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shutterspeed

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When you say the same chipset...do you mean exactly. Because I cant see the chipset on a new board being the same as one that is 3 years old...

Or do you mean the same brand of chipset (nvidia vs intel...etc.)

SRM
 
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My current board is nVidia nforce 4 SLI and the new boards I am looking at are nVidia n750 SLI...

So llike I said...did you mean the same manufacturer or the same...exactly?

SRM
 
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OK...

What I am trying to get at too is that the Laplink software (which is supposed to migrate all of my apps and such) requires two bootable windows machines to migrate apps and such. OR...it needs to have one machine in which two drives will both boot in that machine....so...thinking this through...

So basically, I might as well build a whole new machine and use Laplink between them while this one still works, and then sell the old case or keep it in the garage.

OK...so related question is...when I move to windows 7 when it gets released later this year, will I end up having to reinstall everything anyway? Or does it keep all your apps intact? It has been forever since I "upgraded" an OS. I think the last time I did that was from win98 to XP a long time ago. I cant even remember if the apps carried over.

Because if I am going to lose it all later anyway, I dont want to go through all this crap twice in one year.
 
thenewnumber2

thenewnumber2

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If you replace your mobo with an exact duplicate, your computer will never know anything has changed. You shouldn't have to "migrate" anything: a) take computer apart b) replace mobo with duplicate c) put back together. Perhaps I'm missing something? (But certainly back up your important files before any operation of this kind : "stuff happens").

If you're running XP, you'll have to do a clean install to run Windows 7. Vista can be upgraded in place to Windows 7.

The New Number 2
 
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Ok...you seemed to miss the previous. The mobo in there now is old. It is three years old (two for me...I bought it on clearance) so there would be no reason to put the same one in there even if i could get one. It worked great and would probably last me until windows 7 comes out...except I think I lost a ram slot, which means other problems are probably on the way...

So yeah...you missed that part.

I know if you replace a mobo with the same one, then you are fine.

I still dont see why they have to make it a pain though. One would think there would be a bootable program that would modify the windows files (on the existing HDD that will be transferred...or a cloned drive even) before starting windows. it just doesnt seem like it would be that tough to do.

All they would need is a catalogue of the registry entries and drivers from the manufacturers. The bootable disc could simply delete what was there and write the ones it needs for the new hardware.

I just dont understand why it is such a pain. There must be a reason...
 
thenewnumber2

thenewnumber2

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Ok, so you want an upgrade. Well, your previous plan is sounding good, namely:

"So basically, I might as well build a whole new machine and use Laplink between them while this one still works, and then sell the old case or keep it in the garage.:

Yep, if you're going to change chipsets (NForce 4 to n750), this is the only reliable path I know of. Yes, it's a PITA.

The New Number 2
 
croc

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You are going from a different chipset and a different socket... Your data will xfer, but most (if not all) of your apps will not. Your OS, same thing. Sorry, but some things are just hard, no easy path. I don't lmow enough about your current programs (nor do you list them all) to know what settings migration options they may have, but I hold out no real hopes of an easy path forward.
 
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It looks like building more or less a whole new machine is the way I have to go and then use Laplink.

I really am wanting to know from anyone who might have the inside line...why this is the case.

Why has someone not come up with a bootable program that will modify the windows files to the new hardware before starting windows? I dont understand why that can't be done...or even done manually for that matter with some kind of DOS boot disk or windows repair mode...etc.

Or even accessing the new drive by plugging it into another computer and then manually opening the registry and other pertinent files and changing them before installing the drive into the new machine.

What exactly is it that makes it such a pain? Does anyone know? And why dont the manufacturers each have a program that does this for their hardware perhaps?

SRM
 
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GhislainG

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It can be done if you know how to copy drivers and edit the registry. Microsoft even provided several registry entries (for IDE controllers) for XP and it's relatively easy to add more entries if need be: http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B314082&x=14&y=12

http://www.solriche.co.uk/files/misc/move_xp

I don't understand why it should be so difficult going from a NVidia chipset to another NVidia chipset. You can go from an old Intel chipset like the 865 to a 965, 975 or P45 without having to reinstall XP. You have to reinstall drivers that are specific to the chipset, video, LAN and audio, but that's it. What's important is the IO controller and Intel kept them compatible (ICH5 is compatible with all of them up to ICH10).
 
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more specifically guys...

What is it on the hard drive that makes it incompatible with a new mobo/chipset/CPU? Is it registry entries? Drivers? what?

Sinc you can write anything on a hard disk, why can't you just modify those files with what needs to go in there and the the hard drive and the OS will just pickup where it left off like nothing ever happened.

What is it exactly that keeps this from being possible?

It cannot be a software licensing/piracy issue. Because if you installed it before, you could just install it again...license or not. I dont see how this is a revenue protector.

I am really obsessed over this now. For all that computers are supposed to make our lives easier, I tend to think we waste more time dikkin with them than if we didnt have them at all.
 
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OK...you replied the same time I did.

Editing registry files manually? Well, I have never done it, but how hard can it be? I would imagine you need to know the location of the registry file(s) and then unlock, unhide them etc...and then use some kind of text editor to edit them accordingly. If they have the entrie somewhere, wouldnt it just be a simple process of cut and paste?

Especially if you had the drive plugged into another machine (externally or as a slave...etc)

So maybe with a couple of you guys we can come up with a process, and maybe we could all create a batch file that someone could drop in the root directory of that hard disk and then run it. We could start compiling batch files for all of the manufacturers, and we could host them on some open download page.

I haven't done any batch file stuff since windows 3.11 years ago.
 
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GhislainG

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Why don't you simply perform a complete backup, then connect the hard disk to the new motherboard and see if you really need to reinstall? You seem to assume that the worst will happen, but I'm pretty sure that it will work. I mean NVidia can't be that bad and Intel that good.

You don't need to know where the registry files are located as you can't modify them directly. You have to use regedit or regedt32 to modify the registry. If you don't know what you're doing, then that's another reason to make a complete backup. There are no risks in running MergeIDE.reg and it might help. You could also check what entries already exist in the registry and remove them from MergeIDE.reg.

Running batch files in a Windows XP environment isn't the way to go. You should use Windows scripting as it can access the registry while DOS batch files can't.
 
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shutterspeed

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I guess I just assume that the registry is just another file.

When my Acer laptop died, I went from and AMD chip based unit to a Dell-Intel, so I am sure that was the issue. You really don't get more different than that. It purely sucked and my laptop is still not where I like it.

So you are thinking there is a better than 50-50 chance that since I am going nVidia to Nvidia, I will probably be fine?

I think I will give Asus or MSI a call and ask them too. I am sure they will know...

I can call nVidia too and ask them. Since it is their chipset that you guys say is the major factor, then they should know what the challenges are.

I want to learn more about this though...

Why can't you access the registry like any other file on the hard drive?
 
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Hey guys...check this out...

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/07/02/how-to-edit-windows-registry-key-values-without-booting-in-windows/

This allows you to edit the registry outside of windows!

So correct me if i wrong in thinking that if you know the right things to change, then you could easily "morph" your windows install from any old machine to any new one, and reatain everyhting you had before.

So you could even clone a hard drive, and install it in any machine, and then use this program to adapt the registry to make it all good to go.

It seems like this would work...

What do you think?
 
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GhislainG

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I think I will give Asus or MSI a call and ask them too. I am sure they will know...
Click to expand...
I'm not as sure as you are that the people you can talk to can answer that type of question.

When my Acer laptop died, I went from and AMD chip based unit to a Dell-Intel, so I am sure that was the issue.
Click to expand...
It probably would have worked if you used MergeIDE before the laptop died, but you didn't. Several drivers would still have to be installed, but the goal is to boot without getting a 0x0000007B error.

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archive [...] n-windows/
Click to expand...
It won't help you if your get a 0x0000007B error at boot. It allows you to add entries to the registry or modify them, not to copy drivers, etc.

So you could even clone a hard drive, and install it in any machine, and then use this program to adapt the registry to make it all good to go.
Click to expand...
I often use that procedure. I simply clone an existing hard disk to a new one and then install it in the new system. That way you don't lose anything, the old system still is operational and stress is at a minimum.

One solution that you haven't considered is Windows XP recovery. That sometimes works when migrating to a new platform.
 
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