New Motherboard

I am running Windows 7 RC. I want to upgrade my Motherboard and CPU. I will continue to use the same Hard Drive (which has Windows 7 RC installed). Will my new Motherboard run Windows 7 RC without having to re-install?

Welcome to Windows7forums..

Unfortunately no, when you change a major component like the Motherboard you'll need to reinstall your OS.. So it would be wise to do a backup of all your personal files prior to installing the new mobo/cpu..

A clean install with the new motherboard is safest.

It's possible that Win7 would detect the hardware change and automatically come up with suitable drivers, but I wouldn't count on it.

However, I was able to do a major swap once in Vista with the aid of the "sysprep" utility. (On my system, it resides in c:\windows\system32\sysprep .)

It's intended for use by IT pros, but it can be used to eliminate system-specific drivers. The generic version of Windows created this way may be moved into a new system with different hardware. Run sysprep from the command line with the switches /generalize and /shutdown. After the machine atomatically shuts down, try the disk in the new system.

I repeat that I haven't tried this in Win7, but it was helpful in Vista.

How about a repair installation ? Is windows 7 provide this repairing like in XP ? Bcos I am gonna change to new mobo and CPU as well ...

I'm not sure.

The "repair install" in XP was really an upgrade-in-place performed on the same version of XP.

Vista may not have permitted that, at least with an upgrade license (which is what I have for my homebuilt desktop PC).

I think that Win7 may still be in the "Those who know can't say, those who say can't know" mode. I hope that changes after RTM, before GA in October.

I'll continue to recommend the clean install, although I recognize that is unhelpful to people with commercial PCs who lack install media for some pre-installed application software.

Just a quick update. So far so good. I changed the proc, mobo and add in ram ... First time boot it detects problem and solved it ... Second boot manage to go in and start installing all drivers ... After that everything back to normal AGAIN ! Just cool without needed to format again ... Thanks for all the helps guys !

Glad to hear you got it resolved.. A nice bonus that you didn't have to reinstall..

I am about to undergo a similar procedure. Can you give me any advice on what you did? Did you prepare your computer before you swapped the motherboard (e.g. sysprep) or did you just turn off your computer and take the plunge?

P.S I am running Windows 7 RC x64

Absolutely nothing except backup the important files in case it failed. Once I changed everything, the windows boot up normally but it will say something has changed and it will repair on next boot. After that everything just goes on as normal. However, please be advised that I am not guarantee the same thing will happen for other combination as I had changed my mobo that are using the same chipset which might be causing less problem. If the new mobo using other chipset than the old mobo then it might have some complication, but I think windows 7 will solve it eventually. (The best windows yet ... Hehe ... )

Thing is I’m upgrading to a different chipset. Here is the exact upgrades I’m going to make:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 -> Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
Motherboard - ASUS P5B (P965 Chipset) -> Intel Desktop Board DP45SG (P45 Chipset)
RAM - 2GB (2x1GB) 800MHz DDR2 -> 4GB (2x2GB) 1333 MHz DDR3

I think I'm gonna first backup everything, then run SYSPREP (Sytem Audit Mode and Generalize). After this I'll make the upgrades and see what happens. If anyone else has any other suggestions to what I could do please post them.

P.S. Thanks for the quick reply.