changing rigs

daveydave

daveydave

daveydave

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hi i currently run my pc on a asus p5s800vm the chipset is different to the new board im getting an asus P5LD2-SE, i've been told that i cant just plug it all together and go....i was told i may need to re-install windows! true?? and if so can i just tell the installation to overwrite the previous installation to save all my data? cheers
 
You almost always have to reinstall windows when you change motherboards. There are ways around it but they're all pretty complicated and generalyl don't give as good results as a reinstall. I'd say your best option would be to just backup everything you need and then do a full install of windows. It's probably good to do anyway, I find everything runs nicely after a full format and reinstall :)
 
if i back it all up to a different hdd, then re-install, should i keep the backed up hdd connected or removed it?.....surely if just tell windows to do a repair install it will all be fine? - (also should i export my registry to the backup hdd also)
 
I'd unplug it. When I left my spare HDD in Windoes wouldn't install properly until I unplugged it.

Just put the things you want to keep on the other HDD like Music, Vids, Pics etc.
 
Doing a full fresh install usually speeds things up a bit. Reinstalling programs etc. is something of a drag but you tend to clean house a bit and only reinstall the things you use. Copy over your music, photos, documents, etc. and install fresh with a full format, at least that's what I'd do.

I too would unplug the other hard drive lest something to awry and it get overwritten by accident.
 
It'll probably give you a BSOD saying unmountable_Boot_volume or such like if you try and boot it up with an install of Windows from a different chipset as the IDE Controller is likely to have different drivers.

Also as BillytheImpaler says, fresh installing Windows will make the system run faster and you will be less likely to have driver problems due to previous drivers existing and not being removed properly before new drivers being installed.

You could 'get away' with a repair of Windows but it is by no means the best option.
 
You can remove the mobo drivers prior to installing the new board, then run a repair install, that should allow you to just re-use the HD as is. However, i'd also recommend a fresh install, a nice clean HD is always nice and fast, why repair when a fresh install is soo easy and takes no time at all on todays hardware.

As to leaving the other HDD plugged it in, i can't say i agree on unplugging it, unless you have an OS installed on it, or manage to choose the wrong drive to format, it shoudlnt be a problem.

Whats the problem with a second HDD that others have had?....
 
Aidoscuz said:
You almost always have to reinstall windows
Click to expand...

Not really, you only really have to reinstall it when going from a multi processor/dual core system to a single cored one, of from a 64 bit to a 32 bit one (I think, not tried this one myself, have done the other repeatedly) and vice versa.

All other ones you can just hook up all the stuff and windows will boot up and find a load of new hardware which you will have to install the drivers for and then its good to go.

But if you do want to get windows sorted from the go then what you do is hook everything up and put the windows CD in there and go to install windows (not the repair console) and once in there it will detect your windows install, hit R to do a repair and that will update all your drivers for you and you'll have all your programs and settings still on there.

Saving you a lot of time and effort :)
 
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