Hardware Transfer hard drive to new Mobo,CPU?

[Social_Outlaw]

Hello Fellow Tempers, Now as some of you know, I have been using a AMD build now for a while, but now I decided to switch for a change. I recently got a Intel I5 6500, Z170-A and Kingston Hyper X 8gb, and I've been curious since I'm Switching from AMD to Intel. Now Is there a way to keep my OS (Win 7) with all my files without corrupting any of my files when Switching?is it Possbile? I should be getting my stuff in the mail hopefully today so I just wanted to know because downloading every single game from my Steam account would be a nightmare

 

[RaMon90]

Did you buy the retail version of windows 7 or is it oem? If it's oem, there's no chance that you can use the key on new motherboard.

 

[migles]

even if you keep using the same processor brand (keeping with amd)
the change of the mobo (not sure about the processor)
will bitch the SO (at very least you need to reactivate it)
keeping files and etc is the easy part. the OS is the messed part
as for steam, you can just copy the steamapps folder into another place, install the new OS, and a new instalation of steam, replace steamapps, folder and done.
steam will verify some games but you will not need to download them again

i recomend to backup stuff, and make a new install.. keeping the old installed OS may cause some issues
if you get a SSD or other HDD makes stuff much more easy, since you can install the OS in the new storage, and use the old HDD as a second drive and easily move\backup stuff

btw, how much did that upgrade cost? AMD Ryzen is just in the corner (3rd march) unless you were in a tight budget you could go just wait a moment and see about ryzen

 

[linuxares]

I would recommend you to reinstall Windows to be perfectly honest. You can transfer it over (if it's a retail release) and a use sysprep.
But when I change hardware, I like to start fresh myself.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html - this will help you if you got a retail Windows 7

 

[migles]

I would recommend you to reinstall Windows to be perfectly honest. You can transfer it over (if it's a retail release) and a use sysprep.
But when I change hardware, I like to start fresh myself.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html - this will help you if you got a retail Windows 7

woa i was looking for this for a long time...

basically you just have to do this when you upgrade your hardware? (specially the mobo)
it will retain all files settings and whatever? can you tell about it?

usually so far i just ended up moving files to externall hdd, install OS, install programs, manually restoring files and try to keep program settings (like restoring firefox files to keep browser history and whatnot)
which is a tedius process and i ended up loosing some configuration in several programs

 

[linuxares]

woa i was looking for this for a long time...

basically you just have to do this when you upgrade your hardware? (specially the mobo)
it will retain all files settings and whatever? can you tell about it?

usually so far i just ended up moving files to externall hdd, install OS, install programs, manually restoring files and try to keep program settings (like restoring firefox files to keep browser history and whatnot)
which is a tedius process and i ended up loosing some configuration in several programs

Yes, all Sysprep is basically telling Windows that "prepare, new stuff incoming!" in a extremly simplified term. (uninstalling old drivers, setting up registery etc.)
But all your software etc. will be there. When you boot a brand new HP, Lenovo etc. they will have made an image and all of them are syspreped.

But, if you move your Windows to a new motherboard, cpu etc. you will still keep all the junk building up in the OS. So for me it's always the oppertunity to start fresh and I'm an oldschool guy. Before Windows 7 I always formatted my computer once a year to keep it flying. The NT kernel is really good and before Windows 2000 it wasn't common for normal people to use it.

EDIT: ONLY Sysprep if you change motherboard on an existing system, else it should be fine.

 

[Social_Outlaw]

Did you buy the retail version of windows 7 or is it oem? If it's oem, there's no chance that you can use the key on new motherboard.

I bought retail

even if you keep using the same processor brand (keeping with amd)
the change of the mobo (not sure about the processor)
will bitch the SO (at very least you need to reactivate it)
keeping files and etc is the easy part. the OS is the messed part
as for steam, you can just copy the steamapps folder into another place, install the new OS, and a new instalation of steam, replace steamapps, folder and done.
steam will verify some games but you will not need to download them again

i recomend to backup stuff, and make a new install.. keeping the old installed OS may cause some issues
if you get a SSD or other HDD makes stuff much more easy, since you can install the OS in the new storage, and use the old HDD as a second drive and easily move\backup stuff

btw, how much did that upgrade cost? AMD Ryzen is just in the corner (3rd march) unless you were in a tight budget you could go just wait a moment and see about ryzen

Just 350 and I have no idea honestly why My patience couldn't wait I guess lol, but I'll get it down the road soon. BTW I only have one Hardrive thats hold everything... I never really thought about a backup drive since I have so much space still.

 

[Deleted User]

You should probably use a backup software or get your important stuff off your HDD with a Linux OS. Then you can reinstall Windows

 

[the_randomizer]

I would recommend you to reinstall Windows to be perfectly honest. You can transfer it over (if it's a retail release) and a use sysprep.
But when I change hardware, I like to start fresh myself.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html - this will help you if you got a retail Windows 7

I did not know you could do that, whoa, that's pretty freaking awesome actually

You should probably use a backup software or get your important stuff off your HDD with a Linux OS. Then you can reinstall Windows

Wouldn't that take a long time to do, esp if someone has around 800 GB of data?

 

[migles]

Just 350 and I have no idea honestly why My patience couldn't wait I guess lol, but I'll get it down the road soon. BTW I only have one Hardrive thats hold everything... I never really thought about a backup drive since I have so much space still.

save some bucks and get a backup drive (or concideer to get a ssd to upgrade your pc, people seem to really enjoy samsung 850 ssd)
an external hdd is really usefull.. there is a higher change you drop the thing and break it, but if you are responsable it's a really good tool.
like i use to say, if you don't take care of x thing, then it's trash.

lol, no wait your loss.. i was about to get the computer in december, glad i am not in urgent need and can wait a bit more, and i am happy for the wait. ryzen seems to be a good choice (however, must wait for reviews to validate if it's really amazing)
2-3 months waiting is a bit too much, but couldn't you wait like 2-3 weeks?

 

[Social_Outlaw]

Update: Hey everyone I got my computer to work ... but Since I have a Skylake CPU, I couldn't keep Win 7 sadly. I tried every method but no luck unfortunately