changing Mobo.. same manufacturer.. any way I can use my existing HD

[sqaguy]

I've searched a hundred threads, Google stuff, etc.
My existing Asus M4a78t-e has never been a happy camper since I bought it 3 months ago. Windows 7 64bit on a compatible AM3 cpu... it keeps rebooting, blue screen... have to repair boot up. No consistent way to repro. So, I am getting a newer Asus board.
Given the newer technologies, is there any way I can keep my existing C: drive and expect it to work with the new Mobo, or am I forced to wipe it and reinstall Windows for all the low level registry stuff it gets from the board? Or, if I image my disk with something like Ghost or Acronis backup.. then wipe the disk, will restoring the image still be a mess? ( I assume so)
I've had to reinstall the OS so many times and rebuild my software I'm ready to cry. Is it 64 bit that's causing the problems?

 

[xit]

Back up everything and give it a try, i have had luck both good and bad but you never know till you try. If it will load then you may do a repair install to get things in order.

Even though it is the same brand board there are still many changes from old to new, who knows it may well go good for you.

xit

 

[goombawaho]

You should post both motherboard specs so we can see what the new one has on it.

"Is it 64 bit that's causing the problems?" Looks like that is a moot point now since you are moving on. It would have been nice to troubleshoot that and get an answer.

 

[tf1]

There's no definitive answer until you try it. Much depends on the motherboard driver requirements. You just may be able to run Win 7 Setup and choose the repair option so that Win 7 can install the necessary drivers.

It probably will work but I would never do it myself. I always prefer a fresh install of Windows.
Good luck.


Regards: Terry

 

[vacunita]

I agree, it may work if the new MB is similar enough to the old one, and if no other hardware changes have taken place. A Repair install would fix any remaining driver issues that may present itself.

Otherwise you my need to re-activate windows, after a repair install, but calling up Micrososft's support number and explaining the situation should be enough to get them to issue a new activation code.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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[wolluf]

Your original problem will have been a hardware issue of some sort - so if you're only replacing the motherboard & keeping the other components, you may still have a problem! (mobo may have been it, but my money would be on the RAM).

As to moving installation between boards, agree with other posters. And unlike that poor old o/s xp, you can't repair win7 unless it will boot! (I really miss that feature of xp as many of my customers whose boards die would like their system back as it was - which was nearly always doable with xp. And despite many posters here & elsewhere 'preferring clean installs', I've never had a single complaint from an xp repaired customer that the repaired system was in any way impaired).

 

[rclarke250]

Actually you can repair windows 7 without the OS booting. If the OS can't fix itself, from it's own backup of the necessary files, and you didn't create the repair cd. You can boot from the install dvd, and it will detect the OS, and attempt to repair it. I have had it work the 3 times I've had to use it. If this fails, you do need to install the OS again, and it will store your old boot partition in c:\windows.old, all of the files from the previous windows 7 and installed programs will be there, as will your document and download folders, simply copy and paste in explorer, and then delete the windows.old folder.

 

[sqaguy]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Back when I was building 286 boxes and windows 3 I wouldn't even think of trying it, but hardware is much better than before so it was worth asking!
The old board is the M4a78t-e. The new board is the M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 880G R. Sometimes the symptom looked memory related, but Corsair just replaced them as the first pair had a bad stick. (2x4g Vengeance) I did run some diags posted on msdn and went through the disable\enable services routine. So far it's been running without a crash for 3 days. Given the amount of crap that's been written to the drive from all the event logs and mem dumps I think I might just wipe the drive and start over again. It's my own MSDN copy of Windows so I don't have to worry about activation issues. At one point it was also complaining about the video driver. This is the first time I've ever had onboard video and am leery of the concept but willing to give it a try. I also went for broke and upgraded my psu as it was only 500w which I think is just minimum for quad core AM3. Anyway, I'll come back and let you know how things went, and thanks again for the advice.