Sandy Bridge motherboard swap

[Maitland]

Hello,
will my windows 7 still be activated and will it be good for a new install if need later on down the track.

 

[o1die]

Hard to say; if the motherboard brand is the same, maybe. Don't know how the new Intel chipset will compare to the old one yet.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Not authoratitive, but based on my experience and a little reading:
The Windows validation process uses a fair number of data items such as CPU id, drive serial numbers, and stuff that I don't know about to see if your system has changed. It tolerates a small number of changes (for example, I have swapped system drives with no problems).

One thing that I am sure if: If it barfs due to the new mobo, Microsoft will allow you to revalidate the new system.