How to handle hardware change???

akstirling · 30 Oct 2015

Hi ... planning to install new mobo/processor(Skylake)/RAM on my desktop ... would like to do it in such a way that I am able to avoid a 'clean' reinstall of W10 .... somewhere on the web I saw a suggestion to run a repair using the OS media thus sorting out any hardware drivers issues while retaining all one's precious software ... this was not a recent suggestion so I wonder if that still a viable idea????

DooGie · 30 Oct 2015

It depends on what your current mobo and CPU are.

In the past when running Windows 7 I once upgraded my mobo and CPU booted the PC up and didn't have to do anything.

If that doesn't work then your idea of running a system repair would be the next port of call.

If that fails then I'd personally format the OS drive and do a clean install.

UPDATE
I missed the most important part. Before any of this do the necessary backups.

spapakons · 30 Oct 2015

If your present system and the new system is similar (Intel chipset, Intel CPU, same VGA, same disk and DVD etc) there is a good chance that Windows will load without any problems and you only have to install new drivers. Of course it might deactivate because of the hardware change, but you should be able to activate again. If this cannot be done automatically via Internet, then you have to call Microsoft and explain that you upgraded your computer. They will ask you to type or tell some system identification numbers that appear on screen and then give you the unlock code which you type to activate. I have successfully upgraded my old Pentium 4 to Core-i3 this way, along with a couple other computers. The biggest problem is when you had AMD and go to Intel or vice versa. In this extreme case you have to backup and clean-install. But if you go from Intel to Intel you will hopefully won't have to.