Changing all hardware on windows 7 machine except storage

[cegras]

Is a clean reinstall needed in this case? I am moving soon and will most likely be giving my old computer to my brother and finally assembling a micro atx with a lian li Q series or the FT03.

[mcnabney]

Good luck calling Microsoft and getting an activation code. You are essentially building an entirely new computer. If you are lucky they will give you the code after you are prompted for activation (which will occur whether you reinstall or not). Storage is cheap. Most people just build a whole new PC and copy over the need files.

[Ryu Connor]

Is a clean reinstall needed in this case?

No.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74840&hilit=+sysprep

[BKA]

Good luck calling Microsoft and getting an activation code. You are essentially building an entirely new computer. If you are lucky they will give you the code after you are prompted for activation (which will occur whether you reinstall or not). Storage is cheap. Most people just build a whole new PC and copy over the need files.

Shouldn't be a problem calling MS if he needs to. They only ask one question "Is this license installed on more than one PC?" Reply with NO and you should be good to go.

If you are changing everything except storage I would recommend a backup of data and a reinstall of the OS. Or you can backup the data and try to load Windows 7 after you swap the hardware. But it depends on if its the different chipset, video, sound, etc. You may get lucky and it installs all the new hardware and only require a reboot or it could blue screen on you.

[Ryu Connor]

But it depends on if its the different chipset, video, sound, etc. You may get lucky and it installs all the new hardware and only require a reboot or it could blue screen on you.

Arrgh. No. Win7 is not XP.

Use Sysprep. Read my link

[glacius555]

When I made my complete platform upgrade, it worked like a charm. I only uninstalled some drivers. Both were Intel's hardware.

[Airmantharp]

When I made my complete platform upgrade, it worked like a charm. I only uninstalled some drivers. Both were Intel's hardware.

I've gone from P45 -> P67 and later Z68 with the same install, no issues, though I can see that if you are moving from Intel to AMD or vice versa that you might have an issue. Still, with Vista and 7 I haven't had massive driver issues when moving installs. The OS usually just defaults to the general drivers, which are always enough to get the newest drivers for whatever platform I moved it to installed and running smooth.

[Ryu Connor]

When I made my complete platform upgrade, it worked like a charm. I only uninstalled some drivers. Both were Intel's hardware.

I've gone from P45 -> P67 and later Z68 with the same install, no issues, though I can see that if you are moving from Intel to AMD or vice versa that you might have an issue. Still, with Vista and 7 I haven't had massive driver issues when moving installs. The OS usually just defaults to the general drivers, which are always enough to get the newest drivers for whatever platform I moved it to installed and running smooth.

/facepalm

Say it with me: Sysprep.

We're now eight posts in and only four of them contain correct answers.

[Airmantharp]

When I made my complete platform upgrade, it worked like a charm. I only uninstalled some drivers. Both were Intel's hardware.

I've gone from P45 -> P67 and later Z68 with the same install, no issues, though I can see that if you are moving from Intel to AMD or vice versa that you might have an issue. Still, with Vista and 7 I haven't had massive driver issues when moving installs. The OS usually just defaults to the general drivers, which are always enough to get the newest drivers for whatever platform I moved it to installed and running smooth.

/facepalm

Say it with me: Sysprep.

We're now eight posts in and only four of them contain correct answers.

Hey, I'm sharing my experience here! I even left room for other solutions . I haven't had trouble moving installations amongst Intel hardware in five years without this tool's help; again, if you're moving it between platfrom vendors you might need a little more preparation.