windows 7 wont boot from existing HDD with new motherboard

pudney112 · 07 Dec 2011

i have just installed a new motherboard/cpu/ram and i am just trying to start windows 7 from an existing hard drive, with it already installed. i have heard that if windows 7 was pre installed on your computer then it will not work. is this true?

if needs be, i have a brand new copy of windows 7 that i can make a new start from

question 1. how do i make a new install of windows 7 if it wont boot in the first place

question 2. will i be able to keep my programs/files on this hard drive?

if anybody could help me i would be forever in gratitude

specs

mobo: biostar n68s3+
cpu: amd athlon ii x4 3.0ghz
os. windows 7

badger906 · 07 Dec 2011

asking a copy of windows to be transfered from one system to another is a bit too much to ask, you get driver conflicts and other such issues.

you could try booting into safe mode and run driver sweep to uninstall all your old drivers, but again its a long shot.

if you boot the pc with a copy of windows 7 in the drive it will run the setup installation wizard for you. But it will remove all your existing files and apps.
But it will move your old files to a windows.old folder.

oh and welcome to the forum :)

Dave Atkin · 07 Dec 2011

Hello,

Yes its possible, I actually did one this morning. Its probably due your motherboard being set to AHCI SATA Mode. Change it to IDE Mode within the BIOS or download the AHCI Drivers from the manufacturers website, put them onto a USB Stick and run a repair install on windows. Press F8 when it asks for additional storage drivers and select the file from the CD.

This shows how to do it in XP:
http://www.blah-blah.ch/it/how-to-s/enable-ahci/

Dave

essenbe · 07 Dec 2011

Here is a good method to get your personal files. copy/paste from recovery console.
And, yes you can possibly use the same disk and make it boot, but it will have the old drivers from the previous motherboadr in the OS and is very likely to cause problems. You would be better off to do a clean install after copying your personal files out. After the clean install you can put them back. If you do try to use the old disk and have to switch to IDE, here is a tutorial for enabling AHCI in windows 7. To do a clean install put the installation disk in the DVD/CD and use the one time boot key to boot from the Installation DVD.