Windows 7: New motherboard and CPU

My computer has just quit on me because of an apparent motherboard problem. I am using this as an opportunity to upgrade both the board and the CPU which are en-route as I write this. I moving up from an Athlon 64 socket 939 to a Phenom II socket AMD 3 on an Asus M4A88T-M/USB3 board.



Reading through the tutorial on transferring 7 to a new computer it appears to me that the new system will not boot or am I misunderstanding? I assume this means that I will have to re-install everything so, should I just re-install over the existing OS or should I format the drive first?

I would appreciate any advice or observations on the processes that I need to follow to successfully get the new system working. I feel sure that the information is already here somewhere but I'm not sure where, or what to look for.

My computer knowledge and skills are very limited so I warn anyone replying that their input will probably generate even more questions from me.

You are getting new chipsets, so you need a re-install.

Hi,

Follow this tutorial to do a clean installation:

Clean Install Windows 7

Yes, its best to format the hard disk completely - you will get the opportunity to do that during installation. Be sure to backup any data prior to installation.

If you have any questions, post them here and we can help you.

Regards,
Golden

Do you have a retail OS or an OEM OS - this matters for the activation.

OEM

In that case you will have to talk Microsoft into activating your OS. Maybe a robocall will do, but in case you have to talk to a live person, think of a good (sad) story. Activation and registration of a Microsoft product

Ouch - OEM's are tied to the original motherboard, which you are now changing, so it becomes superfulous. You will have to follow WHS's advice, as there isn't any other alternative unfortunately.

Good luck,
Golden

The OEM disc did not come with a system, I bought it with some components, does that make a difference?

On edit, the packaging reads "OEM System Builder Pack"

Unfortunately not, it was tied in to the motherboard as soon as you installed the OEM.

This works. Just tell them what happened.