Replaced motherboard needs drivers installed before win7 can start

You should get your data off the drive and re install windows, it`s the only way it`ll be right.

If you`ve changed to a 64 bit cpu, you should install 64 bit windows.

Many hits on it at Google

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...(v=ws.10).aspx

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp...w=1920&bih=955

For AHCI to work you first need all sata/RAID controller drivers to be present. I tend to agree with AddRAM about the need for a clean install since the drive type has changed from ide to sata making that a necessity in order to see the best working results. The AHCI mode is optional however since you can still run in the Native ide mode unless opting to see the C volume mounted as a SCSI type device.

Once you have a nice clean install of Windows regardless of whether you stay with the 32bit or move to the 64bit flavor and then proceed to restore the Windows Easy Transfer backup option(advised) once all programs are back on you can then decide whether or not to switch over to the AHCI mode. You will then be able to restore the remaining files you want to keep from the first drive before considering creating a full System Image Backup once everything is back up and running again.

If you only have the two drives the image can then be stored on the old ide drive and even placed in an external usb enclosure. I keep a 1tb drive in a fan cooled enclosure here to store images from laptops as well as a desktop or two.

I move installs around to new hardware using Paragon Adaptive Restore or Acronis True Image with Universal Restore. These installs all work just like a Clean Reinstall, once the necessary SATA drivers are supplied and the SID and HID's are removed which can block booting on new hardware.

Of course Windows provides many new drivers requiring several restarts, may need the Computer Name changed to not conflict on network, reactivation.

If you don't have access to one of these programs then you're best off to Clean Reinstall however.

The main thing to be looking at is how long has the original 7 install been in use on the ide drive? If you just recently saw a clean install there then it shouldn't be any large program seeing it cloned over in some fashion to the new sata drive. But if it is loaded up with the usual clutter on drive and in system registy typically seen over any lengthy period of time then the clean install with backups restored to that would be the solution.

Many here dump the existing install yearly if not sooner to keep 7 running at peak condition. But it also depends on how much activity as far as program installs and files created, moved around, etc. to look at as well. The 2010 install seen to in May of that year saw an image restored months later removed last June for a good clean install. I keep a few images onhand in the event there is any need.

Besides the backup options in Windows itself when mentioning Acronis as the 3rd party alternative both WD and Seagate offer their own free version for their customer base. WD's version is strictly for use on WD drives however while the Seagate rebranded as Disk Wizard free version can be used on any brand drive.

One of the advantage of Acronis is the size of the image you have to store which is often smaller on the drive when created. It seems the program does just a little more at seeing data compressed. But not only did you change drives but as indicated in the thread title main board as well? With that being a major hardware change the only best solution is a fresh install on the new hardwares.