Trick to Updating MOBO/CPU without a new OS??

[litehouse43]

Hey guys,
Trying to update a MOBO/CPU in a box without redoing the operating system. Anyone know if this is possible or if there is a trick to getting it done? It looks like the BIOS is recognizing the change but windows 7 isn't happy. Tried to do system restore and throwing in a restore disk with no luck. Anyone got a trick for this?

~Jack

[Al]

It's more than likely confusing windows with drivers it doesn't need and not finding ones that it does. I never had any luck trying it, but Jed managed to pull it off once. I think that was due to clean living. ;)

[Bryan]

Yes it is possible. There is a command you start windows with that causes it to appear to be a new installation so it goes out and relooks at the hardware. I don't remember how it is done, but unless I'm mistaken it was Mumps who told me.

[c303a]

I sure hope someone answers as I am going to be upgrading my son's on P4 to a Q6600 with a new mobo on Tuesday. Sure would save a lot of trouble.

[Mumps]

Sure. The "sysprep (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html)" command basically puts an already installed Windows O/S back to a state that it will rediscover all the hardware in the system. Drawback is you'll need to Activate it fresh. And if the Drive controller on the board is not one that's supported natively, you may still have problems.

Here's a blog from someone that migrated in a couple of steps that should work for almost any situation. Does still include the sysprep step.

http://meridian.ws/wordpress/?p=127

[litehouse43]

Should have waited for your reply mumps, just went and wiped it clean. Didn't end up being a lot of work. The only ones I have ever gotten away with doing a MOBO swap on were clean boxes that were only used for crunching. This was a box someone in my house actually uses so it was a bit more complex. Regardless, problem solved. Thanks guys.

[c303a]

I'm going to try it tomorrow. Thanks. Will let you know how it works.

[circeseye]

actually its really bad to do that. new major hardware changes (mobo, cpu) it is ur best interest to do a fresh install. i know its a pain but in the end u will be happier. when u do a switch like that u never get rid of the all the old drivers and configs etc. even if it looks like it will work after doing it i garrenty u will later down the road start getting weird errors and such. and besides if ur using win xp look up black viper. he has the absolute best info on turning off alot of unnecessary stuff in xp.

[c303a]

I did it using the info supplied by Mumps on a Win 7 64 bit OS and went from a Intel MB to an Asus and it worked perfectly. I had no problems except that I didn't catch it asking me to set up a new user so I ended up doing a lot of things I didn't have to. I had to re-activate Windows but that was it. Thanks.

[circeseye]

ah ok sweet.

[EmSti]

It has worked for me in the past as well. Ended up calling Microsoft to resolve license issue, but on the tech side it was only moderately difficult.