Motherboard Swapping

Community Forums/General Help/Motherboard Swapping

Imperium(Posted 2013) [#1]
I've only done with with one board successfully. But it was the same exact motherboard. My question is if the internal components are compatible meaning processor, ram, etc. Can I replace only the Motherboard in a desktop and expect it to boot successfully to Windows? The hardware list should update itself and I will make any needed adjustments in the bios.

Will this work?


GfK(Posted 2013) [#2]
I've only ever done this twice. The first time it worked flawlessly, even though the motherboards were different. Had a few drivers to install but that was it.

The second one, BSODs all over the place.

So, 50/50 success rate, for me. But that's not enough for me to ever want to try it again. I wouldn't expect it to work in most cases.


big10p(Posted 2013) [#3]
I've never even attempted it and have always done a fresh OS install.


Imperium(Posted 2013) [#4]
The board I'm swapping is a Intel board 945 to 965 and they're part of the same family. The newer board has more slots which is why I want to upgrade it for the cheap price of $20. I'm just worried about Windows flaking out but if this works it will same me a lot of time. I don't feel like taking a day or two installing all of my software. Mainly it's the autodesk suite that is such a pain in the arse. It may invalidate my copy since I'm swapping the board so I will have to activate it again.


big10p(Posted 2013) [#5]
The software might detect a change in hardware, whether you re-install it, or not. Depends on how paranoid AutoDesk are.

Just suck it and see. If it all goes pear-shaped, you'll just have to re-install the OS and software. No way around that.


Henri(Posted 2013) [#6]
Hello,

usually wrong SATA-driver creates BSOD if motherboard is switched. One way to get
through it is to switch temporarely in IDE/LEGACY-mode over sata-cable from BIOS if it
supports it.

-Henri


xlsior(Posted 2013) [#7]
It really varies in my opinion -- sometimes you're lucky and everything works, other times it will blue screen immediately on boot.

I was amazed that my last upgrade worked without a re-install, going from AMD to Intel in the process.

One likely issue to watch for: If your current motherboard is set up for legacy/IDE mode, then you'll likelky bluescreen if the new motherboard is set to use AHCI mode for the hard drive interface. Make sure to switch the new board to legacy or IDE mode as well if that's the case.

Something that you can do to minimize the chances of serious problem, is attempting to install the drivers for the new hardware *before* you switch out the boards. Depending on the installers they may or may not want to run, but any driver that you manage to pre-load into the windows driver cache reduces the chance of issues when the OS detects the new hardware,

Another potential issue is that a motherboard change will likely cause windows to require re-activation because it will think it has been moved to a different computer with different hardware.


RifRaf(Posted 2013) [#8]
Boot into safe mode and install the MB driver disk right away ?
Some Motherboard driver disks are bootable anyway arent they ?


Imperium(Posted 2013) [#9]
Thanks for the suggestions. I think both boards have a IDE/Legacy mode but I will need to check. Great idea about dropping any extra needed drivers into Windows prior to the swap.

The point of doing this switch is to gain same speed and additional PCI/PCI-E slots. This new board has more of both. My plan is to leave the original hard drive with XP intact and install a 2nd with Windows 7 64bit. That way I can finally get the best of both worlds on my old box. Originally I was going to just build a new rig until I found a new processor and motherboard compatible with all my hardware for $20 each. So in all $40 to double my speed and have extra room for peripherals seems good to me!