Interesting question on upgrading and OS's

[jazzninja]

So I may be wrong but, I have been thinking of upgrading the motherboard and processor on my gateway box. It is still pretty good but I would like to do more gaming, which requires some sort of crossfire support and better/faster processor.

It is my understanding that Gateway hides a partition for you to be able to continually restore and format the HD and install a fresh copy of windows on the hard drive. Time now for my question: can I upgrade and install a new motherboard and cpu and still use the windows recovery disc that I have made through the gateway recovery management program?

Thanks

 

[ulysses35]

A lot of PC builders have a "recovery" partition that allows you to restore the PC to the condition it left the shop.

If you have a recovery CD/DVD then this partition is a waste of space (6gb on my vaio) .

Yes you can use your windows CD that came with your PC - worst case scenario is a quick call to MS during the install to get an activation code (FOC)

 

[masterasia]

I'm not sure how Gateway recovery disks work, but Toshiba's are specific to that computer because as part of the recovery, it is only installing drivers associated with the hardware that come with the computer. So, if your recovery disks work this way, then NO, you can't use them to install on a new motherboard and CPU. Standard motherboard sizes might not fit in those cases either so you might want to check on that. The fan headers in the Gateway case might be different like the ones in Dells, so you might have to do some modifications to the fan headers to get them to fit on your new motherboard. Also, if you put a new video card in that case, it might require a new power supply that can handle it.

If this is too much trouble, just build a new computer. Salvage what you can, like RAM and DVD Rom, and build from scratch.

 

[jazzninja]

I've upgraded the graphics card and installed a new psu. I have a case ordered so I have everything covered. All I was really asking was will this OS still be valid after a mobo and cpu upgrade? I feel like the answer should be yes but was unsure...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The OS on a Gateway box is forever tied to that machine. You also don't normally get a Windows CD/DVD, only a restore CD. The restore CD can not be used to do a "repair" or on anything other than the same model gateway.

You need to change at least 6 things to trigger activation but many of them are "on board" the MoBo. And no you can't "restore" the OS cause all the drivers will be different.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/activationfaq.mspx
If you acquired Windows Vista pre-installed on a computer from a major manufacturer (sometimes referred to as an Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM), Windows Vista will require re-activation if you replace the motherboard with a motherboard not provided by the OEM.

 

[loneninja]

From my experience windows install/recovery disks that come with an OEM machine, won't install on any other machine.

 

[jj463rd]

Once you change the motherboard essentially it's considered a different PC so you will need another license for the Windows Operating System.If you just upgraded a CPU,graphics card added RAM added a TV Tuner you might need to reactivate Windows or talk to a someone on the telephone for approval if you change components a lot.