View Full Version : Switching motherboards without reformatting
n00b 0f l337
10-19-2009, 12:40 AM
Hey its been a while, but my integrated sound died somehow on my motherboard. Picked up a new cheap MATX because I don't have an available PCI slot and USB sound setups suck.
But I also can't find any of my windows disks,
And I've got a huge amount of autocad on this setup, that I don't want to move and reload.
so whats the best way to remove all the drivers for the motherboard and then just swap?
Yup, is possible, done that may times. Off course fresh install is better.
Just remove drivers before taking the old board out, install new board, run driver cd and you're done.
Are chipsets from different families (like nvidia -> Intel etc)? If they are then remove chipset drivers (and the rest of unnecessary drivers) and make sure to install Standard IDE controller (or whatever it was called) for disks. It should boot fine then
fallwind
10-19-2009, 03:06 AM
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2007/09/how-to-install-a-new-motherboard-without-reinstalling-windows.ars Follow these instructions, should work like a charm! :up:
MassiveOverkill
10-19-2009, 03:33 AM
Much easier to do when your OS is Vista/Win7 than XP.
Donnie27
10-19-2009, 09:05 AM
Just switched computer motherboards. Foxconn P45 with Windows XP 32bit with a Wolfdale E8400 and Gigabyte P43 with an E5200 Win-7 64bit. The Wolf-ie had been in a system with the P43. I'd planned to reinstall and just left them like they were to make sure they worked. The only problem I had and is still having the TV card on the Wolfdale system doesn't want to work. The Windows 7 system booted, adjusted drivers and seemed ready to use. Booted again, repaired itself and was up & running. Besides the TV card, the WinXP did the same. Ran Crap Cleaner for uninstalls, then Register cleaner and the system is running fast enough that I'm not doing a Clean install.
The funny thing was I was about to make a similar thread before I saw this one.
WinXP didn't ask to be re-registered while Win-7 did. Please note, just checked in on Windows Update and it saw it as registered. It took all of 4 secs LOL!