Do i have to reinstall if mobo change?

[cuti7399]

My mobo or cpu die (dont' know) so decided to jump from Asus P5W P965 chipset to Abit IP35 Pro mobo. I was running 2x74g raptors in raid 0. Do I have to resintall windows? Not having to do it would be nice. Thanks for any help

 

[RoboPC]

Sometimes, just give it a try. I was able to switch from a AMD mobo to a P35 mobo without a new install. If it boots and loads Windows, just uninstall the old mobo's drivers and install those from the new one.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

imo, you should... just to get a fresh start. and plus, your system will feel faster if you haven't reinstalled in a while..

i would.

 

[Drsignguy]

If you decide to give it a go, I would Definitely backup your Info! I did the change out myself and I had to re-install. Yes, I did backup. Always a wise thing to do.

 

[VulcanX]

That just comes down to whether or not your HAL(hardware abstraction layer).dll is the same for both the board and cpu, if they are very similiar, such as the same range of cpu and mobo, then you should be fine, but as everyone said, backup in case, because its never a sure thing, and reinstall if i were you as well, you can never rely on a .dll to ensure whether it will work or not, and with regard to your RAID solution, i havent worked on them enough to comment but from my understanding, backup both hard drives fully of course and just reinstall your RAID drivers upon installation of Windows.

 

[cuti7399]

I'll just go ahead and try it because i got all the data backup, just did not want to reinstall all of the software. I'll post back. BTW, the raid on the Asus P5W and Abit P35pro boards are different so I'm crossing my fingers

 

[IceBurner]

Keep in mind that this is absolutely not safe or recommended, even if you know exactly what you're doing.
OP already said they backed up, but for anyone in general...
First step is to back up.

Next, back up.

Third, back up.

Clear on that?

Removing all your proprietary drivers, then forcing re-detection of all hardware (often via deleting everything out of device manager) can do the trick. You'll need to use safe mode for the last boot/driver & device kill on the old hardware and first boot on the new.

I repeat, this is a very risky trick even for those who know what they're doing.

 

[frankfuster]

Did it work?

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: IceBurner
Keep in mind that this is absolutely not safe or recommended, even if you know exactly what you're doing.
OP already said they backed up, but for anyone in general...
First step is to back up.

Next, back up.

Third, back up.

Clear on that?

Removing all your proprietary drivers, then forcing re-detection of all hardware (often via deleting everything out of device manager) can do the trick. You'll need to use safe mode for the last boot/driver & device kill on the old hardware and first boot on the new.

I repeat, this is a very risky trick even for those who know what they're doing.

Isn't this the damn truth!

 

[hans007]

i think if you werent running raid you definitely wouldnt have to. because of raid, i'd backup first.

going from ich8 to ich9 is usually ok for non raid. not sure about raid.

 

[Staples]

If the chipsets are the same, you will not have to. In your case, you may have to.

I have switched my motherboards, Abit P35 to a DFI P35 and I have not had to reinstall Windows.

 

[cuti7399]

going from ich8 to ich9 is usually ok for non raid

that's my worry, the raid. Otherwise, i did an upgrade on a system with p975 chipset to p35 and did not have to reinstall windows. I did not even clean out the old drivers.

 

[Fallen Kell]

You can sometimes get away with it, but I still say it is best to re-install. Now, I have personally gone from a Nvidia NForce 4 AMD based board to an Intel X48, as well as a Nvidia 680i to a 780i. Both worked after the change, but I want to re-install on the X48 (still archiving/backing-up data). Now it works, but I can tell you it is slower than it should be.

 

[Binky]

Make an drive image and move it to an external hard drive.

Then, use the magic of google to search for "motherboard change without reinstallation." Windows XP and Vista both have a repair function that works very well to change out motherboards. On XP, there are TWO repair functions presented. Don't take the first one. Pick install, and then pick repair. (google it to make sure I'm remembering it correctly)

EVERY time this question is asked on any forum, you have half the people saying "go for it," and half proclaiming the virtues of a clean system. They're both right, to a point. But...I'm lazy and I'd rather not reinstall or face driver headaches - so I use the windows repair function.