Upgrading MoBo/CPU on Windows 7

Hello, tomorrow I am planning on upgrading my current build:
Q6600
GTX 295
4gb G.Skill 1066mhz
EVGA 780i SLI Motherboard
Win7 RC 32bit
To a new i7 920 cpu, EVGA X58 motherboard, and 4gb of DDR3.

I was wondering how (if possible) to do this without having to wipe my harddrive.
Or, if there is no way to do this successfully, how to wipe my HDD and reinstalling Win7 (Or if I can just do repair .. ) on the clean HDD. I have heard many conflicting reports on various forums of how to wipe/repair using Win7, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Assemble your new rig with everything except the HDD. Leave your existing rig intact.

Attach your HDD to the new rig. Will it boot stable? Good. If not, you will need a clean install.

Changing chipsets (new mobo) is the snag. I have lost virtual money on this forum re: this issue, but I have also won some bets.

Even if it does boot, I would not trust it.

Besides, go 64-bit.

Just be safe, backup your data and reinstall. Why take any chances with instability or other problems? Would it really be that much trouble to set things up again?

Thank you for the quick replies.
Should I wipe my HDD before installing the new components or just pop in the win7 disc after putting in the new mobo/cpu/ram?
Also, will the same Activation Key work if I have to reinstall using the same Win7 disc?

Edit: If I were to decide to reinstall using 64-bit, do I have to re-download the Win7 files and burn them onto a new CD. Also, I heard that Microsoft had stopped the Windows 7 RC downloads sometime in August, but I'm not sure if this is true.

You do need a separate download for the 64-bit and unfortunately Microsoft is no longer providing this download to customers.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../download.aspx

You would have to obtain the download through some other means. If you don't have it and cannot get it, let me know and I could mail you a copy of the software. I could give you the RC1 release and an RC key. Or I could get you the RTM release, but without a key.

Alright then, I think I'll just stick to 32-bit for now, or at least until the full version of Win7 releases in October.

How should I go about wiping my HDD. Do I just put in the Win7 CD into my current PC and click something on the installer like "Wipe" or similar?

Dinesh said:

you already have 4 gb ram and you're again getting 4 gb?

My current ram is DDR2 because I have the Q6600.

eliteops1 said:

Alright then, I think I'll just stick to 32-bit for now, or at least until the full version of Win7 releases in October.

How should I go about wiping my HDD. Do I just put in the Win7 CD into my current PC and click something on the installer like "Wipe" or similar?

Yes, when you get to the screen showing your hard drive, you can click the advanced button on the right and from there you can delete your existing partitions and then click on New to set them up again. You'll figure it out as soon as you get there...it's pretty easy.