Restoring Windows 11 to New Hardware?

[StokeDave]

Hi,

I have replaced pretty much my whole PC except the GPU, i have a nice clean Windows 11 backup with all the software i use setup and ready to go. Obviously this was setup on previous hardware.

Is there likely going to be any issues with motherboard drivers etc... by doing this or will Windows 11 in general recognise and reinstall the new drivers with an update? Would installing the drivers from the motherboard website replace any old drivers?

To be honest I can't be bothered to do a fresh install as I'm very fussy about settings etc... and it takes me ages to get it how I want it so the above option cuts all that out.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[SpellowHouse]

You don't even need to back anything up. Just pop the old drives in then once the pc has booted, and after it's adjusted to the new hardware, you can then clone the boot drive to a new one and swap them out. If you don't do that, there is a good chance that Windows will freak out and require a new product code.
I am assuming you don't have a Microsoft account - because it's a different approach if you do (What that approach is, I don't know, I don't have a Microsoft account, but I know you can "move" your product code to a new PC if you do. ).

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Your backup should work fine
Even amd to intel or vice versa
Nowadays windows is pretty resilient about it
In the old days would just blue screen you

I changed motherboard, cpu etc
More than once
But my older backups loaded fine

Your windows activation may
Or may not be another issue though
Depending if its oem,retail,linked to Microsoft account etc
At the worst you may have to contact Microsoft
And explain its a major hardware change

 

[theforce]

Deep down you know which is the right path to take...