Upgrading Motherboard Without Reinstalling OS

I want to upgrade my MB on a Windows 7 system. However, I do not want to reinstall Windows or any of my apps. I simply want to plug in my HDDs and boot into Windows as before. The existing board is an Asus P5B Deluxe. The new MB is an Asus P8Z68 Deluxe. I have two SATA HDDs installed. One of these drives contains the OS as well as three other data partitions (yeah, I know, bad idea). The IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in device manager are set to the following:

“Intel(R) ICH8 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller – 2825”
“Intel(R) ICH8 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller – 2820”

I’m guessing that if I simply reinstall the HDDs on the new MB, the system will not boot because it won’t recognize the drives. So, I was wondering if I could change the storage controller setting to “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller” in Device Manager prior to installing the new MB and just before old system shutdown. That way, when the new board is installed, prior to the next startup, the system will hopefully recognize the HDDs and boot into Windows.

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Create a system image of your hard drives first. I would assume you'll need a separate image for each hard drive.

Make sure you have all the drivers (LAN, graphics, chipset etc) for your new motherboard then fit it.

Do remember that you need a qualifying EULA for your motherboard. If your current Windows OS is an OEM version it will be tied to the old motherboard.

When you restart your computer, Windows may chunter a bit, but it should eventually get going, although you may need to carry out a repair install to get your system up and running. However, that shouldn't affect applications etc., although if all your important stuff is backed up first you can get yourself out of trouble.

When you're all done, you'll need to re-activate Windows.

I hope I've given you good advice. If I haven't, our more knowledgeable helpers will put things right.

To be certain you should SysPrep the Win7 installation on the old mobo before changing them. This will remove all drivers, SID, HID's and activation so that it is assured to start on the new hardware.

Follow these steps: SysPrep to move HD to another computer