[av8tor]

Hi everyone... as the title says, I want to upgrade my board from a 775 socket(Gigabyte/Q8400) to a 1155(Asrock/i5 2500k) and use all the components i currently have now. How do i swap the boards without re-installing all my programs. I have a full copy of Win7 professional and would like to keep it simple.I also want to use the same hard drives(2)..is there a way to "prep" win7 for the exchange or just go for it?

[Nebulous]

It's advised that you do a complete format and reinstall of the OS when you swap motherboards. However swapping motherboards that contain the same chipset, a reinstall is not needed. You'll have to call MS and reactivate it.

If your copy of windows is legit, then it's easy peasy. Reinstalling windows is a cakewalk. Once installed you reactivate it and it's done. Now reinstalling your programs is a whole different program. You have no choice but to reinstall from scratch.

[av8tor]

Hi Nebulos.....My copy of windows is legit not OEM.Can I use 3rd party system imaging software to copy my hard drive and then boot from that? There must be a better way than doing it from scratch...

edit:FYI. I did a search and Win7 has a System Preparation Tool for just this purpose. It let's you freely configure Windows 7 to be then deployed to other computers as a hardware independent image.I guess it prepares your Windows 7 installation to be moved to a new computer keeping ALL you installed app's, program settings and user profiles. This program can be used in a couple of ways, like changing mobos or GPU...from ATI to a nvidia...or major hardware changes... without the need to reinstall everything....I give this a try... Let the fun begin!

[Nebulous]

You can use a disk image and clone the entire partition from one harddrive to another. This will be the fastest way if you're just going to copy just your programs and not the operating system.

You'll have to copy the programs folder in it's entirely. However you will have to create shortcuts to those programs onto your desktop.

Remember tho: There is no garantee that your programs will work normally without any issues/errors. Good Luck.