OS re-install needed?

[african_leopard]

Hello

Was not sure whether I should put this here or under the homebuilt option. I am replacing my motherboard with a GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 rev 1.3, an i5-2500K plus 8 GB of RAM.

The old equipment is GA-965P-DS3 rev 2, Core 2 Duo E4300 and GSkill 4 GB of PC800 RAM.

I currently have Vista 64 Ultimate installed. Can I just swap out the new parts or do I need to re-install the OS?

Thanks

 

[crewton]

You'll have to reinstall and either ask microsoft to let you reuse your vista key on a new motherboard or buy a new windows license. If you just swap the items out, windows will just keep rebooting until it detects your old motherboard.

 

[african_leopard]

Thanks for the response - that was my fear *sigh*.

I have a full Windows copy [not OEM] so I am sure I can sort it out with a phone call.

Doing a reinstall of windows will not affect my other programs?

Or do i need to back up everything, do a format and clean reinstall...not looking forward to that , if that is the case.

 

[crewton]

I don't know if the full version will let you or not...Since it allows you to put it on multiple motherboards maybe it doesn't have that check on start up. You can try it but I'd have it backed up in case you do need to reformat and install.

 

[nordlead]

With a retail copy you probably won't have to call microsoft. I just rebuilt my PC 3 times in the last month (bad motherboard) and tried a different company and then switched back. Didn't have to call them once.

If it was OEM you might have to call and it really is simple and I've never had a problem with them. Only reason I could see you having a problem is if they think you are trying to take advantage of the system.

Installing over your old copy of Windows might leave your data in place, but all of the programs will need to be re-installed. A backup and then clean install is probably best.