I'm sure this has been asked. But I just want to ask a few questions. First off I (obviously) want to get a new motherboard, as well as a new processor. I have reinstalled windows countless times due to hard drive issues and I was wondering if it is absolutely essential to do such if I am replacing such vital parts.
It usually isn't necessary to do a full reinstall after a hardware change in Win 7, in most cases. The HAL file seems to be more forgiving than it was in XP, where a re-install or a repair install used to often be required for a motherboard change.
That being said, you will likely need to reactivate Win 7 after the changeover. At the very worst, you might have to do a repair install to get your basic drivers up to date and correct so it will boot. Afterwards, make sure that you freshen up all of the drivers for the new hardware, and you should be okay.
My 2 cents.
If you have your data backed up some place and you don't have many additional software programs I'd do a complete clean full install (Reformat HD) with your new motherboard and reactivate Win7 again. This way you are assured that you won't have issues a few days or weeks down the road.
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