Is it possible to upgrade the motherboard and CPU without reinstalling?

Updating computer hardware is exciting, but there may be problems if you want to keep the Windows installation. It won’t take long to complete a new installation, but you will need to reinstall all installed programs, transfer data and configure system settings, not to mention that some programs need to be activated.

Therefore, like most people, you probably want to upgrade hardware without reinstalling Windows 10/8/7. To upgrade secondary parts, simply uninstall the corresponding old drivers and install the new ones after replacement.

To replace important hardware such as motherboard and CPU, Windows 8/7 or old Windows XP system will fail to boot. Since Windows has included most of the common drivers, Windows 10 will boot correctly without any additional effort after replacing the hardware.

To upgrade the motherboard and CPU without reinstalling Windows, there is a little trick to prepare the system for the hardware upgrade. Once you get it right, you can boot your Windows system after changing the motherboard.

Will Windows 10/8/7 be activated after replacing the motherboard?

Different types of Windows licenses

There are three types of Windows license key, OEM, Retail, and Volume. If the license is retail or volume, Windows will automatically activate when you connect to the Internet. However, the OEM key is stuck on the original hardware.

You need to activate Windows by phone. It may take a few minutes to send the numbers back and forth.

How to know if Windows 10/8/7 is OEM or Retail?

Right-click PC (This PC in Windows 10) and select Properties. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and check Product ID. If you see OEM in the second group, it is an OEM license key. Otherwise, it’s retail or volume.

If your computer comes pre-installed with Windows 10/8/7, it’s usually the OEM key. If you purchased your license from Microsoft, it is a sales key. Volume keys are bought by large companies or organizations.

A proper way to change the motherboard without reinstalling Windows

Before replacing the motherboard or CPU, you need to make some changes to the registry. Incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious problems, so it’s best to create a full system image backup first.

You can follow the steps below to edit the registry:

1. Press the “Windows” + “R” keys to open the Run dialog box, type “regedit” and then press Enter.

2. Within Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ services \ msahci

3. In the right pane, double-click “Start” and change the value from anything to “0”.

4. Also, change the DWORD value data of the following key to 0:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ services \ pciide

6. Save your changes and exit Registry Editor.

7. Turn off the computer and replace the hardware. Then you should be able to boot into Windows successfully.

This method will also work when you want to move the hard drive to a new computer without reinstalling Windows.

An easy way that always works

If the above method doesn’t work or you find it too risky, you can perform a universal reset after updating your motherboard and CPU. Universal Restore is a feature of backup AOMEI Backupper which allows you to restore Windows system to another computer with different hardware.

It does not require you to change any settings. You just need to create a backup of the original system and restore it after CUP and motherboard replacement. It works like windows recover bare metal backup. AOMEI Universal Restore is more convenient without restrictions.

To perform a system backup for universal recovery:

1. Download and run AOMEI Backupper Professional.

2. Click System Backup on the Backup tab. Automatically select the items you need as a backup source.

3. Click “Step2” to specify a folder or drive as the backup destination. It’s possible backup to external hard drive or the original hard drive.

4. Click Start Backup to start the system backup.

5. When finished, click Utilities and select Create bootable media and follow the wizard to create a bootable USB drive or CD / DVD.

After that, you can upgrade the motherboard and CPU.

Perform Universal Restore

1. Press DEL or F2 repeatedly at computer startup to change the boot order and set the created boot disk as the first boot option.

2. Then it will load the main interface of AOMEI Backupper. Click Restore and select the backup you created earlier.

3. Before starting the restore, make sure the “Universal Restore” option is selected.

Both methods can help you upgrade your motherboard and CPU without reinstalling Windows. Which way do you prefer? Or do you have any other experience with changing your computer hardware without a clean install, leave a comment below.