how can it be done because i don't want to have to re-install everything plus i have a very slow internet connection n i have a pretty big steam game list that took me forever to download i just want to know if there is a way around it without causing instability issues and what not
Well if your replace with the exact same mobo then you can get away with it, otherwise your best result will always be a clean install with new drivers and updates. Have you considered adding a SSD as that will speed up the install by a huge factor then you can deal with the original drive in several different ways. What exactly are you upgrading to mobo and CPU wise?
its a upgrade from a old asrock am3 to GA-990FXA-UD5 am3+ with a fx-8350 its a pretty decent upgrade
Is the old MB & HD still running with NO problems ? I just did an image of a 4 year old install (500gb) that was on an old 1 core Gigabyte MB with Macrium Reflect (Free Version) to a 2 tb ext HD. Then I re-imaged it to a new bare 2 tb HD that was installed in a new box with a GA-990FxA-UD7 MB and a AMD FX-8350 CPU. Everything went almost perfect. I just had to do a few win7 updates and install MB drivers for the new MB.
Imaging with free Macrium
If it's a retail w7 key it should reactivate OK by entering the original key. If it's an OEM w7, a call to MS should get you up and running if you explain what you're doing.
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