Do i need to reinstall windows after upgrading hardware?

[Megamuffin]

So next week im getting a new motherboard and new CPU... and i was just thinking now that there might be driver issues if my old drivers are still on my pc, so i was wondering do i need to reinstall windows (would prefer not to..)

upgrading from AMD athlon II x3 455 to a AMD FX 6300
and from a MSI 440GMA-E45 to a MSI 970A-G46

if it makes any difference..

i cant find any drivers to uninstall in the control panel besides my GPU drivers.. so will it be an issue or not?
asked in software forum but havnt got a response so trying here..

 

[NomNom]

Most likely depending on what Windows you are using, there have been cases though when Windows will boot up on the new hardware and just install the new drivers but most of the time you need to reinstall windows as the currently installed drivers don't work with the new hardware. Not every driver is listed in Add and Remove programs / Programs and features, they are listed in the device manager.

Make a backup of your documents and other info and give it a try, you never know. If it works, uninstall the old drivers and install the new ones to fend off any potential problems.

 

[ld13]

Personally I'd just boot windows up if it allows you to, let it detect whatever is new (out of experience this might take a few reboots and a bit of patience), then install the normal drivers (chipset etc) as if the PC is new. I see no need to remove the old drivers.

Otherwise, you could always do a Windows Repair install instead of re-installing windows from scratch.

 

[adam_g]

So next week im getting a new motherboard and new CPU... and i was just thinking now that there might be driver issues if my old drivers are still on my pc, so i was wondering do i need to reinstall windows (would prefer not to..)

upgrading from AMD athlon II x3 455 to a AMD FX 6300
and from a MSI 440GMA-E45 to a MSI 970A-G46

if it makes any difference..

i cant find any drivers to uninstall in the control panel besides my GPU drivers.. so will it be an issue or not?
asked in software forum but havnt got a response so trying here..

Its always best to do a fresh install when upgrading hardware. You dont need to but its recommended.

 

[Basjohn]

If you're changing motherboard or power method (ACHPI for example) you generally NEED to reinstall windows. It was actually considered a "feature" that it would blue-screen if you didn't. You most likely won't be able to boot, but even if you can you really should do a fresh install, lingering drivers will conflict you to hell and back in the long run.

 

[Megamuffin]

yea i thought so >.> cause of conflicting drivers ... i really hate reinstalling windows but suppose i have to

 

[charlh]

i cant find any drivers to uninstall in the control panel besides my GPU drivers.. so will it be an issue or not?
asked in software forum but havnt got a response so trying here..

You could try Hirens boot cd. There is an option to remove all existing drivers. When you reboot windows after that, all drivers will have to be reinstalled from your cd's etc. I have done this on a PC at work where I had to replace a blown motherboard with a totally different make and chipset. Windows refused to reinstall/repair from the cd without formatting the drive, but after I used Hirens CD, all was OK. I did not need to reinstall the OS. But that was on XP though, I have never tried it with Windows 7.

 

[GforceD]

Depends how OCD you are about your drivers, windows 7 and 8 will normally pickup everything you need with out having to reload.
So no you shouldn't have to reload, I work with guys who replace motherboards daily and not with the same model motherboard and most time reloading is not needed.

Some people like to keep their installs clean so they prefer a reload.

 

[AstroTurf]

Depends how OCD you are about your drivers, windows 7 and 8 will normally pickup everything you need with out having to reload.
So no you shouldn't have to reload, I work with guys who replace motherboards daily and not with the same model motherboard and most time reloading is not needed.

Some people like to keep their installs clean so they prefer a reload.

I have been doing this since windows 7.

So far one in 20 needed a reload and no real difference in speed.

 

[ODTech]

Windows XP used to be very finicky about the hdd controller driver, if you swopped drives between boxes it would not boot and usualy break the installation so it won't work in the original machine either. Something that sometimes worked was to uninstall all drivers before the swop.

Windows 7 and 8 doesn't suffer from the same problem as much but just to be safe uninstall all drivers under program and features and manualy remove the hdd controller driver before shutting down for the last time.

On topic but a different note. Use VMWare virtualizer to make a 1 on 1 copy of your hdd incase something goes wrong and you have to format. If it goes south you can just reinstall windows then boot up the vmdk file using virtualbox and copy your data back to the physical machine via network.

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
https://virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

I've adopted this way of backup up a system before a format because i've forgotten to backup cetain minor aspects of my and clients machines in the past. You would ofcoures need a external drive with free space equivalent to the size of your system drive.

 

[Claymore]

There is a way of starting Win7 up as if it's the first time, and letting it install drivers. The catch is that you need to have Windows running to do it, so if your motherboard blows, you're out of luck.

 

[Noob-Noob]

Yep, copy new drivers to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository, then do a "sysprep". When pc starts up again it should automatically search for new drivers.
I have never actually done this, but cant think why it wont work.

 

[EmileS]

If you're changing motherboard or power method (ACHPI for example) you generally NEED to reinstall windows. It was actually considered a "feature" that it would blue-screen if you didn't. You most likely won't be able to boot, but even if you can you really should do a fresh install, lingering drivers will conflict you to hell and back in the long run.

Yup, changing a motherboard does require a fresh install 95% of the time.

 

[EmileS]

Yep, copy new drivers to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository, then do a "sysprep". When pc starts up again it should automatically search for new drivers.
I have never actually done this, but cant think why it wont work.

Sounds quite interesting. Will give it a shot when I get a new mobo in like 3 years

 

[LazyLion]

Windows 8 seems to be able to handle new morherboards better.

 

[Praeses]

All you need to do is to uninstall the motherboard chipset drivers and video card drivers (just to be on the safe side). Then install new hardware and everything should work fine. I've done it a handful of times before without any issues.