Changing Motherboards and Platforms!!

[Ajay57]

I need help from the members, as it say's above i am going to change motherboards. Going from a IB Z77 to a IB-E X79, but do i need to reformat my SSD and wipe it clean??

Yes i know i have the Chipset and Drivers to install all again, just not sure whether i need to wipe it clean!! And do a fresh install of all my programs and drivers!!

Yes i know my questions are not quite right, but never faced anything like this before. Always installed to a new SSD or HDD so its much easy way.

Respectfully,

AJ.

 

[pcgamer4life]

It's a best practice to reinstall from scratch, but not always necessary. I'm not sure if there are a set of upgrade paths that don't require it.. but honestly, I would do it regardless... it'll save you hassle in the long run if you run into issues.

 

[mimart7]

You should do a fresh install. Otherwise, you will have problems with old drivers from your previous install.

 

[EarthDog]

It's a best practice to reinstall from scratch, but not always necessary. I'm not sure if there are a set of upgrade paths that don't require it.. but honestly, I would do it regardless... it'll save you hassle in the long run if you run into issues.

 

[Ajay57]

Many thanks for the reply's, but would you think i could run into problems with Windows as my OS is OEM?? When i went from SB to IB the OS registered and allowed me to carry on!!

I just entered the code from the disk and it was accepted, well just hope its OK this time!!

Regards,

AJ.

 

[lenix]

I think this is heavily influenced by the OS itself. I've always had problems on XP whenever I changed the motherboard, a format and a re-install was always needed, else you'll bsod.

On Windows 8/8.1 I even went from P45 to Z87 (Q9550 -> i7 7440k) and Windows handled everything, my old devices were no longer there and the new devices got configured on first boot.

I can't say anything about Windows 7 though, let us know if you try it.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I think this is heavily influenced by the OS itself. I've always had problems on XP whenever I changed the motherboard, a format and a re-install was always needed, else you'll bsod.

On Windows 8/8.1 I even went from P45 to Z87 (Q9550 -> i7 7440k) and Windows handled everything, my old devices were no longer there and the new devices got configured on first boot.

I can't say anything about Windows 7 though, let us know if you try it.

7 won't do that to the degree that 8 does.

7 will load drivers by itself, but its not nice about changing drivers.

 

[lenix]

7 won't do that to the degree that 8 does.

7 will load drivers by itself, but its not nice about changing drivers.

Cool thanks for confirming, I think it's something that the Windows team focused on in Windows 8. Call me traditional but even though it's handled in Windows 8, I still go with a format when changing such hardware.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I still go with a format when changing such hardware.

Always a safe bet, I do it as well.

 

[Ajay57]

Well got the Mobo today folks just waiting for the CPU, and then we shall see what the results are! But i have been thinking it might be a good time to up grade the OS as well to Pro or Ultra. As i have seen Keys advertised to up grade via windows it self, for example Home to Pro or Home to Ultra!!

First things we will reformat and try to get this up and running again soon.

Kind Regards,

AJ.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Ajay, why do you need Pro or Ultimate Windows?

Do you actually know what the differences are?

 

[Ajay57]

The things i have been reading is it suppose to work better with XP platform Programs, but then again i could be wrong! But maybe you and the guy's would say look at trying to sort out a Stripped down Win 7 64 Bit!!

 

[pcgamer4life]

The things i have been reading is it suppose to work better with XP platform Programs, but then again i could be wrong! But maybe you and the guy's would say look at trying to sort out a Stripped down Win 7 64 Bit!!

Windows XP applications mostly work with 7, there are probably very few that don't. I think the 'XP Mode' part of Pro and Ultimate are geared towards business level users that have invested thousands of dollars in software that doesn't support 7 yet, or the licensing cost to upgrade to a new version is prohibitive. For the everyday user, running in 'XP Compatibility mode' (which is available on all flavors of Windows 7) should be sufficient.

Pro and Ultimate have very few features that the 'average joe' would use over Home Premium. Grab a copy of 8.1 and call it a day!

For whatever reason, the link for the Windows comparison is brokenish, but here's the cached version to show you some key differences.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Nope, Windows 7 in general helped with XP compatibility from Vista.

I highly doubt you need anything besides the OS you have. If you want something new, grab 8.1.

 

[Ajay57]

The problem with that is Win 8.1 is no longer accepted on the HWbot, so everyone has had to change back to Win 7!!

Thanks,

AJ.

 

[c627627]

Why have only one operating system? Install whatever you want on its own partition in addition to whatever you have on another partition.

Dual-boot or multi-boot. That way when, not if, something goes wrong, simply reboot into another OS until you can figure out what's wrong. Better yet, reboot into another OS and reimage the the other one.