How does Windows 7 handle Motherboard and CPU replacement?

McGraw · 22-09-2011, 13:15

Hi.

(I don't mean with Activation by the way, just whether it will work or are there any inherent problems.)

I built my friend an AMD PC a few years back and it is currently running Windows 7.

Recently it has been temperamental and not turning on every time the power button is pushed.

The other night it switched off during updates (no idea whether it was at the correct time) and now it won't fire up.

I have tested the cable and the on and off switch and all is not good. No sign of life at all.

In my attic I have a P4 3.2Ghz system which, if all else fails, I will build up for her.

So , my question is, if I just drop the two existing hard drives in (C: obviously has Windows and D: is all the libraries and Program Files) the other PC, does it have any chance of working. Naturally I understand it will need to change lots of drivers but it's only the Motherboard and CPU that will be changing.

Any thoughts? (I really don't want to have to set it all up again).

Thanks very much.

djmagnifique · 22-09-2011, 13:22

I replaced a faulty motherboard in my system about a year ago although with mine both boards used the same chipset (p43). Windows 7 just updated all the drivers to the ones required then all I had to do was reactivate windows over the phone, all in all took about 30 minutes from switching on and everything is still running well.

However I have also seen reports of windows refusing to work properly or at all after changing simular hardware so only thing to do really is to give it a try and see what happens.

McGraw · 22-09-2011, 13:26

Thanks.

Will just have to give it a try and hope it works...don't think it will though.

Kymmy · 22-09-2011, 13:50

It simple will not work. The HAL probably will crash and as win7 doesn't have the same repair option as found on XP but instead you have to run it from within windows there's simply no way of correcting it without a full rebuild.

I did this myself recently and was going from one nvidia chipset motherboard to another (same chipset just different revision) and the HAL fell over on me.

McGraw · 22-09-2011, 14:00

Ok, well at least I know!

Kymmy · 22-09-2011, 14:41

If it was an identical board then you'd be fine but the windows files (unlike linux) are dictated by the HAL. As I said I recently swapped round two ASROCK AM2 motherboards both with Nforce 630 chipsets... The linux server took it all in it's stride where as I had to rebuilt the Win7

j52c · 22-09-2011, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

It simple will not work. The HAL will crash and as win7 doesn't have the same repair option as found on XP but instead you have to run it from within windows there's simply no way of correcting it without a full rebuild.

I did this myself recently and was going from one nvidia chipset motherboard to another (same chipset just different revision) and the HAL fell over on me.

Is that when using an OEM version of Win7, or with a retail version as well.

Kymmy · 22-09-2011, 14:44

Retail Ultimate.. Gawd knows why they dropped the repair install as I used that ever so much on XP when I was working in IT

djmagnifique · 22-09-2011, 20:14

Here is a video of how to repair windows 7 if you are unable to get the system to boot http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com...windows-7.html

Kymmy · 22-09-2011, 21:13

The startup repair doesn't replace the HAL so is useless for hardware changes..

djmagnifique · 22-09-2011, 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

The startup repair doesn't replace the HAL so is useless for hardware changes..

So basically what your saying is that when I changed my motherboard from one made by msi to one made by Gigabyte I shouldn't have been able to boot into windows and windows shouldn't have automatically installed the relevent drivers.

Kymmy · 23-09-2011, 07:07

Nope, what I'm saying is that if you change hardware in a way that makes the HAL crash then windows will fail to load and there is no way of repairing it unless you fully rebuild.

There are certain upgrade/downgrade routes you can follow where hardware will use the previous set-up and will be happy enough to actually boot (these though are undocumented).. In those cases Win7 will then remake the HAL depending on what devices are automatically found, but in a high percentage of cases of chipset/CPU migration the HAL will just fall over and you'll end up with a constant reboot cycle.

All we can do is try, if it works then you're one of the lucky ones, if it doesn't then you have a full rebuild on your hands

Also when you changed your motherboards you used the same chipset. As long as there's no revision change then in essence the HAL would perceive no changes

djmagnifique · 23-09-2011, 07:56

But Windows did notice the change as It had to install the correct drivers for the new board and I had to reactivate windows as well due to a major hardware change.

Kymmy · 23-09-2011, 08:29

Yep, but the HAL is used on boot.. If the HAL gets it's knickers in a twist then it'll reboot the machine before it gets into windows so can't therefore look for the hardware changes.

It is one of the main drawbacks with windows in that it doesn't look for hardware changes on boot but instead after boot. With XP you could then boot from the CD, choose the 2nd repair option and it would reinstall keeping all your old settings/programs. Win7 and Vista did away with this option and just does a start-up/system file repair where it looks for corrupt or missing system files.. which isn;t much use if the system files are still configured for different hardware.

MovedGoalPosts · 23-09-2011, 10:07

To get back to the OP's question. If it is a retail version of Windows then you can transfer it to the new machine. If it is an OEM version then changing the motherboard, unless it was a like for like replacement (in his instance it isn't because he's even changing the CPU manufacturer), then the OEM licence becomes untransferrable as it is viewed as a new machine. The changing motherboard in any case would normally have triggered a call to microsoft, even if like for like.

With such big changes to the system, I'd always be expecting to reload wiindows rather than hoping for the best.

Of course there may be ways round the OEM licence restriction, but technically that is piracy.

But do you know it's the motherboard / CPU at fault. Could it be the PSU if there is no signs of life? And how well would Windows 7 run on a P4 based CPU?