So I was searching the web which I do often to see if anyone had come up with an effective tool to circumvent the typical OS re-build post new motherboard installation and found this forum.
I read the whole thing and thought why not give Paragon a crack.
I basically made sure all important data was backed up safe and sound with every intention of doing a fresh install should Paragon fail for me.
Well it couldn't have been easier. This new main-board doesn't have any IDE header so I knew my older IDE DVD was redundant and proceeded to create a bootable flash drive with Paragon on it.
It couldn't have been any more than 30 minutes and everything was running sweet as.
I had about 3 chipset type drivers that I was able to get from Gigabyte's support page and that was it.
The OS does need to be reactivated in a couple of days but this would have been necessary with a fresh install anyway.
The only issue that I had was the one where you would get the message "Setup is preparing your computer for first use" which was also mentioned in this thread for which a simple registry edit fixed quick smart.
I am very happy to report a perfectly smooth transition to all new hardware and a beautifully customized OS that would have otherwise taken months to get back to how I like it. If ever but then that's how it goes right? LOL
My OS was running perfectly and how I had customized it. If it were not in perfect running condition I would of course simply performed a fresh install.
Until that need arises I will use Paragon for all future main-board upgrades and I thank each and everyone here who contributed to this thread showing great amounts of patients and supplying all that valuable information.
Cheers!
Update: While there have still been no major issues for me regarding this procedure I have come across a rather annoying hitch and that is with regards to DRM.
I overlooked the fact that the efforts by big business to protect their interests with the use of such restrictions that some of my music and audio book purchases would fail because of how intrenched DRM is into a system.
I was able to through much time and effort to update my DRM registration etc (primarily because every effort made via suggestions on the net failed in my instance) to get a new audio book download to work properly. As for all of my past purchases well I have not tried to re-download and play any of it or to play what I already have. I will keep you posted.
At first glance DRM seems to be designed very favorably for big media and rather disadvantageous to paying customers.
I really would not be happy to feel like I had to pay twice for my songs because some choose to get theirs free.