Installing New Motherboard and Processor and Vista

OK, just ordered a E6600 Core Duo along with a 775 Socket Motherboard to replace my outdated 939 AMD and 4400+ Dualcore everything else is remaining the same...I have Vista Ultimate 64Bitinstalledand was wondering ifI have to do a clean reinstall in order to get up and running...I would like to not have to reinstall all my current programs...Does vista give the option to install all the new hardware withouthaving to blow it away or am I looking for trouble if I go that route, I understand it will require a reactivation after the hardware is installed..I just don't look forward to reinstalling everything....

 

Interesting question - look forward to the result.

Bear in mind tho that you won't be able to do the upgrade ifVista is an OEM version....

Tosh

 

No problem upgrading since mine is a retail version...

 

Short answer is no - Vista does not provide that option.



However, depending on how much work you want to undertake, there are some different options you could try.



There used to be a product known as Alohabob PC Relocator (I know, funny name, but it worked real well!) which would actually migrate your programs to a new machine, not just your data files and settings. They have recently been bought out by MS, so you will have to find an old copy.



The new product, now known as Windows Easy Transfer Companion is billed as a way to migrate from XP to Vista, including programs, so it might not work for migrating from one Vista install to another. However, the WindowsVistaRepair.com forum claims that it can be used to transfer from Vista, not just XP. It's a free download from MS. See the link:



http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931696



As you probably know, XP had a "repair" option with which you could image an OS partition on one box, restore the image to a different box, and then run this option to essentially install the XP on top of itself and, in the process, detect and install the drivers needed for the new box. I did that to migrate across machines and it worked great.



However, in Vista, there is a Recovery Options screen that can be accessed by pressing F8 during boot but the only option that will work for you is Startup Repair and that is generally used in situations where the boot loader or MBR gets overwritten and needs to be rebuilt for Vista. There is no recovery console in Vista like there was in XP.

 

I did find a restore option in Vista ultimate which actually does a complete PC backup of my entire computer in the event of a major HD crash or hardware failure...I then do a restore once Vista is installed......the backup was nearly 55Gig which I put on my second HD, contains all my programs ,files, setting, basically everything...seems Ultimate and business are the only ones with this feature...premium and basic do not have this option...Here is what it says....Windows complete PC backupcreates a backup copy of your entire computer, including programs,system settings, and files. Your entire computer can be restored using the Windows recovery Environment...it then gives you the option to choose where you want to put the Backup....I wonder if a new motherboard will effect the recovery....

 

Certainly Vista will identify and enumerate the new devices it finds on the board and install basic drivers, the question that arises is about the drivers that Vista will have already loaded that might conflict with correct enumeration of newer ones, it's one of those things that may go smoothly and you'll never notice any problems, but if there are then you invariably end up with an unbootable, unrecoverable system which you will have to fresh install. I have only done this a couple of times with Vista so far and they were both replacement boards which I chose for the customer as the base components were similar eg; Nvidia chipset, AMD skt 939 so I had no troubles.

I would be very interested to hear the outcome of your endevours though.

 

That wouldn't work for his situation as it'd be just as if he hadn't done anything, all the old drivers would still be in place.



From my experience, changing a motherboard is enough to cause all sorts of problems. In XP I've had it do everything from load up to the desktop and work for a little while before it BSOD's or starts freezing or it'll just hang during the load screen. I haven't tried this out in Vista, so maybe it will handle it better than XP did? I would just give it a shot and see how it goes. There's a good chance you're going to have to reload everything, but you might as well give it a shot.



Let us know what happens, I'm interested in seeing how Vista would handle a new motherboard.

 

Just depends if I am in one of those devil may care moods when I do the install, right now I am leaning toward a fresh install..:w00t:Oh wait the bad side just popped up telling me to go ahead and be reckless, no wait ...my good side is telling me to be smart and reinstall....:w00t:No wait...well you get the picture, I will let you know which side won...everything will arrive monday so for now I will continue to gather the latest drivers and all my reinstall disc's.....:crazy:Going to be a long weekend....

 

The full backup option in Vista is for restoring an existing install to the same machine -- not for migrating to a different machine. Windows Easy Transfer is designed for that. Have you tried the Windows Easy Transfer Companion I mentioned in an earlier post? That's supposed to provide you a way to migrate across machines -- and it migrates the programs, not just files and settings.



Installing your old Vista installation to an entirely new mobo is just asking for trouble. Don't be surprised if it doesn't work.

 

OK, installed the new board and processor and did a clean install of Vista Ultimate 64Bit, was not going to risk a crash , all went smoothly and I just finished installing all my programs and contacted Microsoft for the reactivation code took about 5 Minutes ...system is running great..thanks for all the advice.....love this Core 2 Duo E6600...

Specs :

Gigabyte Motherboard, E6600 Core2 Duo, 4Gig DDR2 XMS Corsair, Vista Ultimate 64Bit, X1900XT 512Mb, 320Gig Sata 2, 120Gig IDE HD, XFi Extreme Music...

 

Folks, I'm hoping you can help me.



I'm a budget-minded gamer who built his own system some eight or nine months ago.



In an effort to save some cash, I bought Vista Home Premium 64bit, System Builder's license.



I'm planning on upgrading the now-dated hardware in my system with an SLi motherboard, two 8800gts's, and another 4gb ram.



But I'm concerned. From what I've read, it's difficult to migrate a vista machine to a new motherboard, and I may have screwed the pooch getting the System Builder's license.



I have a LOT of software installed on this thing... all of my games, Adobe CS3 suite, Premiere, 3DS Max 7 and 8, zBrush 2... i REALLY don't want to have to reinstall Windows, and I REALLY don't want to have to shell out the money for another copy.



Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated.



Thanks.

 

The fact is this: There is a definate possibility that the activation will break.



As you are upgrading however, and are keeping the same HDD, a phonecall to microsoft should sort everything out. Once you explain the situation they will give you an activation code and everything should be fine again.



In the event activation fails, type 'slui 4' in the start menu to get the correct phone number for your area.



I will be surprised if they refuse to activate it.

 

King addressed the license issue. As he indicated, new HW will require a new activation. MS will NOT reactivate existing licenses, so, they will give you a new product key.



The reason folks talk about the difficulty in "migrating" a Windows installation to a new machine is that if you simply insert the HDD in your new machine, it will most probably have the wrong platform drivers. Among the drivers that may not work properly are SATA, IDE, and onboard sound. But Vista may sort itself out through updates. It has gotten better at this over time.



If you are able to remove the old, nonworking drivers and replace them with new ones, you should be OK.