Swapping Motherboards and processors

I need to replace a motherboard and processor on my gaming rig. If I do this, will I need to re-install Windows on my hard drive aft the new motherboard is installed?

I need to replace a motherboard and processor on my gaming rig. If I do this, will I need to re-install Windows on my hard drive aft the new motherboard is installed?

XSlayerX2006

You might not need to reinstall but you will need to reactivate. Bear this in mind if you have an OEM licence.tautitan123

True but according to Microsoft new board = new computer which an OEM licence is not valid for. Not that it usually matters of course.tautitan123

Yeah they are very lenient about it and I've never had any trouble, nor do I know anyone who has had problems. MS are probably just happy you didn't torrent it lol.tautitan123

Hmm. I think they should just let you activate it on a new motherboard and if it gets tracked to be used on the old motherboard after you have activated on the new one, then they can just disable it?Thorpe89

There are some files on my hard drive right now that I need to save before I reformat i.e; .flp files for my music production and some music as well as business files as well. I could care less about having to reinstall everything else.

However, having to activate the motherboard is not really an issue. For now, I'm still using Windows XP and I have a functional AntiWPA crack I can use for XP/Vista 32 and 64 bit versions to bypass the licensing prompt/updates in safe mode when I boot up initially.

I guess this means I'm safe?

Well, I decided to keep the x2 4400+ processor and just swap the motherboard.

It booted right up, only had to reinstall audio and GPU drivers.

The screwed up part is that I downgraded from the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium motherboard to an A8X-SE single PCIex16 motherboard and for some reason I have a phenominal boost in performance... Used to only be able to play Crysis on medium settings @1186x864 with 2x 7900GT's in SLI, now I have a single 7900GT overclocked a tiny bit and I can play Crysis on high settings @ 1280x1024 with 4xAA and still get the same frame rates.

Maybe there is a ridiculous difference between forceware drivers 175 and 169 for the 7 series cards? It's a world of difference... My hardware seems to like that 169 forceware way better than the 175... I have no idea why this happened but I love it.