Want to keep win 7 install but change from Intel to AMD

[yamawho]

I usually do fresh installs but myt son has several games that only have 3 installs and he has already installed them once or twice. Because of this, I am looking for another option.

I remember in the XP days one could uninstall the mobo and chipset drivers and you could then rebuild the system with a new mobo and cpu ... does this till work?

There is also the Acronis True Image option, last time I tried TI on that P5K Pro system it didn't work. I have a recent version of the TI boot CD and I believe they now have an option to transfer the OS without drivers to another system ...

Anyone have any advise for me ?

[CrowdAds]

[yamawho]

Found this ...

If you’re one of those people who likes to build and upgrade your own computers, or if you have just decided to make your first attempt at upgrading an older system, there is one thing you may be wondering: Do I have to reinstall my OS?

Unfortunately, most people I talk to say one of two things:

“I just always reinstall the OS.”
“I upgraded once and I didn’t have to do anything to the OS, so that’s what I’m going to try this time.”
Well, Option #1 will certainly work all the time, no matter what. As for Option #2, whether or not the OS will boot depends on the hard disk controller driver. So, just because #2 worked for one upgrade doesn’t mean it will work for another.

Fortunately, whether you use Windows or Linux, there is a very easy way to prepare for a motherboard upgrade.


Now, I’m going to assume that if you think you can upgrade a motherboard, that means you kind of know what you are doing and you can find your away around Windows. If you don’t know how to get to Device Manager in Windows, well, stop right there and either get somebody to help you, or edumacate yourself right quick!

So, to start with, I will assume you are using Windows. For Linux users, see below.

Whether you have Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7, the process for prepping your puter for a motherboard upgrade is exactly the same. What you need to do is to set the hard disk controller driver in Windows to the standard, plain vanilla Windows version. The reason for this is quite simple, and is illustrated in the following example:

You have an AMD processor and VIA chipset in your current machine
You want to upgrade to an Intel-based system
When you swap out the hardware and try to boot, Windows will use the hard disk controller driver for your old chipset, and thus you will get a blue screen because it can’t load the OS. Oops.
The same can be true if you are moving from Intel to AMD, or even from AMD to AMD or Intel to Intel. It’s also possible that you are already using the default Windows hard disk controller, which means you don’t have to change anything. But just in case, do the following:

Go to Device Manager
Expand the “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers“
If you have an entry like “Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller” or “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller“, you’re all set. Just stop and upgrade your hardware, and you should be fine 99% of the time. If not, carry on to #4.
Right-click the non-standard disk controller entry and choose Properties -> Driver tab -> Update Driver. I’m talking controller entry here, not “ATA Channel o“, “Primary IDE Channel“, etc.
Choose the “Browse your computer/Let me pick” options until you get a list of compatible drivers. Select the default “Standard” driver:
- For a SATA drive: Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller
- For an IDE drive: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Click OK, and don’t reboot – shut down your computer and perform your hardware upgrade. If you reboot before your upgrade, Windows may automatically replace the standard driver with the custom one that you just tried to replace!
Before firing up your upgraded puter, be sure to connect your primary boot drive up properly and configure the BIOS with that drive as the first boot hard disk. Normally, I try to connect all the drives in the computer and configure the BIOS boot order and such exactly as it all was in the old computer.

When you turn on your new monster, Windows should load and be able to access the boot hard drive just fine. It may take a bit longer than usual since Windows will be detecting your new hardware and trying to install drivers. Don’t freak out if everything doesn’t work at first – the important thing is to get the OS booted so you can install drivers and get the rest of your hardware configured and functioning properly.

That’s pretty much it. I have found this works 99% of the time. For the 1% of the time that it does NOT work for whatever reason, you can always throw the Windows disc into the optical drive, boot from it, and select a “Repair Install”. This will probably overwrite all your Windows files, and you’ll have to reapply all your Windows updates and such, but at least your data will remain intact. Just be sure not to accidentally wipe the drive. That would be bad, especially if you don’t have a backup. But, you DID make a backup first, right??

Upgrade Your Motherboard Without Reinstalling your OS | Scottie?s Tech.Info

[DBoone]

Quite a find yamawho. I usually build from scratch but now that I'm playing around more with used computers and parts I'll have to keep this one in mind.

[radeonized2]

Absolutly brilliant. Thanks for this find.

[mr. Charles]

......this IS a GREAT find; Have just copied onto a text doc. for added to
my "wittle book of Trix for PC=stuff " . . .
{This will save lot ~n~ lots of hours from doin a re-install . . . }

thank's for sharing Yamawho . . . . . .


mr. Charles . . .

.

[wonderwrench]

Once the new system is up and running it would be a good idea to get rid of all the unused drivers left over from the old hardware. TechRepublic has a great walk through on how to show hidden devices in device manager. Works on Windows XP, Vista and W7. I set this up on all my PC's as its a great way to get rid of device drivers for hardware no longer installed or used.

Bill

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by wonderwrench

Once the new system is up and running it would be a good idea to get rid of all the unused drivers left over from the old hardware. TechRepublic has a great walk through on how to show hidden devices in device manager. Works on Windows XP, Vista and W7. I set this up on all my PC's as its a great way to get rid of device drivers for hardware no longer installed or used.

Bill

Nice link. Thanks Bill.

[Sir Skully]

Yeah thanks for the link Bill. I almost came down with metacarpal syndrome.
By having so much crap to uninstall....