Does 7 handle a system board change better than XP?

[mlevy]

My dad's computer (built 4 years ago by me) had a capacitor failure last night. We're going to do a MB/CPU/memory upgrade since I don't like any of the current AM2 boards out there, to go with his AM2 CPU. The big question, XP didn't like being moved to a different MB, the HAL didn't like it. Will Win 7 handle this move better than XP? We're hoping to just move his HDD over to the new PC and let it do its thing to rebuild the device registry.

The old PC specs are as follow:
Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+
4 GB DDR2
GeForce 7800GT
Antec 430W True Power

We're looking at:
Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3
Phenom II 955BE
4 GB DDR3
reusing the case, PSU (if possible), video card, opticals and HDD's.

Any insight is appreciated, we're hopeful that 7 is more robust/resilient in this situation than XP was and we can just pop the drive on the new machine and keep on truckin'.

 

[whs]

You are practically building a new system. Windows will most likely not activate but maybe you can talk MS into it. Else it should work.

 

[kodi]

I've done that a couple of times, it should start and then load all the drivers for the new hardware.
You can activate it online you don't need to ring Microsoft.

 

[mlevy]

So we should be able to plug the existing install into the new MB and it should work? That will make us VERY happy.

It was a retail upgrade DVD so activating shouldn't be an issue.

 

[DeaconFrost]

It should work off the bat, but you could always run Sysprep if you want. You also shouldn't have any issues reactivating, unless it is an OEM license. You may have to call for that, and explain the motherboard died and was replaced. If it is a retail license, you should be good to go.

 

[mlevy]

We're VERY happy to hear that. Now to research the parts to build out the new core of the system.

 

[copernicus]

I got away with it going from :

ABIT IC7 / P4 to a Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L with Pentium Dual core e5400 .

I had ZERO issuess with it, but the first consisted of removing any hardware that isn't crucial to a first boot. Minimum amount of ram, and resetting bios to failsafe settings.

I think as long as the hardware is old enough to be part of default Win 7 driver set you should be ok.

 

[Keiichi25]

Actually, I think the main concern with the Motherboard change is how far of a change in the chipset of the Motherboard is from the original install.

In the past, although have not done many Win 7 installs on different hardware, the stumbling block will be the motherboard chipset. Installs usually harden that part that if you have a much different brand of chipset motherboard, the OS will bluescreen/reboot while trying to start up Windows or fail to start up properly.

Where I am currently working, we tried to use an image that was suppose to work for a Lenovo Thinkpad and a different Dell Laptop, only to have it not work on startup for another Dell M4500 Precision laptop. The only thing I can think of is that the motherboard chipset is drastically different than the image's, and that was putting Windows 7 Professional on it.

So I would check to see if the make of the motherboard chipset is of the same line.

 

[mlevy]

The old one is the nForce 4, the new one will be of the AMD variety...

 

[kodi]

Just do it!! If you have problems (which you won't) just install the chipset drivers off the Motherboard CD.

 

[mlevy]

Well, the first step is to buy the parts, we may be finalizing it today, though we also talked to a local custom-build shop and we haven't gotten his quote. He sounded like he'd do the OS installation for us, or ensure our drive worked in the new system though he wasn't sure if it would work.

 

[mlevy]

Well, the build is done. My dad now rocks a Phenom II 965 BE with 8 GB memory, and we did NOT have to reinstall Windows. Booted up, took a reboot to get the basics updated and then it was just a matter of getting the USB 3.0 and NIC drivers installed. Went WAY smoother than I expected and the whole deal took less than 3 hours from teardown start to using the PC.

 

[kodi]

Good to see you got it sorted

 

[Zepher]

We recently did 3 mobo swaps, 2 of the swaps were CPU's as well.
Windows 7 64bit and 32bit loaded up just fine, took a couple of re-boots and everything works great.
all 3 had to reactivate windows, online activation worked fine.

Q6600 and Asus P5Q Pro 8GB DDR2 to an i7 870 Asus P7P55D-E and 8GB DDR3 - Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Athlon x2 4200+ Asus board and 4GB to an AMD Phenom II 1090T Hex Core Asus mobo and 8GB DDR3 - Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Asus to Gigabyte board - Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit

 

[mlevy]

Thanks again for the push to give it a try, this has DEFINITELY sold me on Windows 7 being the best that MS has produced to date.

I also must give props to Newegg, they will forever get my business. I ordered the parts for the build at 1:30 PM on Dec. 23, the order was out the door THAT DAY, from the NJ warehouse, it got to me near Albany, NY by 1:30 PM on Dec. 24 (that's on UPS but still GREAT).

Not to mention that most builds these days are "slap it together and hit the button" simple, everything seemed to be detected properly, BIOS configured the processor correctly and it worked on the first boot.

 

[YTBOY83]

So, when you install a new mobo and decide not to reinstall W7, all Windows 7 does is rebuilds the device registry and deactivate any drivers which are not needed anymore???????

I am thinking of doing that sometime, since it works fine, it should then work for me. Once it works, all i would have to do is get rid of the drivers which are not being used anymore. Would it do any harm in keeping the deactivated drivers there?

 

[fireberd]

It will probably have to be reactivated with Mikeysoft. I had to do that when I replaced my motherboard last week and it was an exact replacement for a failed Intel DP35DP motherboard. Nothing else changed but it still needed reactivation. I had to use the phone number and call the automated activation. I had to read them the key numbers and they gave me new numbers to key in.

 

[mlevy]

We had to reactivate Windows but it didn't require a call. My dad has a retail Upgrade disk.

He hasn't complained, yet, so it should be OK to just leave it as Windows 7 puts it when it reconfigures.