What happens if I change motherboard

Hardware Hub Motherboards
1

I'm about to change my mother board because it's faulty and wondering what will happen to my Windows 8 will it still be able to boot and just renter the key or do I have to completely reinstall windows

Thanks

2

Windows isn't installed on your motherboard it's installed on your boot drive which is either your HDD or an SSD (or SSHD if you're that guy :P )

All you are going to need to do is when in the BIOS make sure that your boot drive is the correct one (the one with windows)
If you only have one HDD or SSD then just choose the only option for a boot drive in your BIOS

3

some MOBO drivers might be lost aswell so I hope you have the CD for that motherboard.

4

Hey Mdude,

Once you have followed the advice given re BIOS etc...

...if your Windows is an OEM copy you will also be prompted to reactivate, which will likely fail. If that happens just follow the instructions and reactivate over the phone.

5

As @Pigbearman @Spider_Man and @BGL said.

If you have another PC available, before you switch out your old mobo, go to the manufacturer's website of your new motherboard and download all of the latest drivers for your BIOS, chipset, and etc. beforehand and put them on a disk or USB stick. You will need to install them after boot for your new mobo and components to work properly. It will save you from a few headaches.

6

over the phone FTW!

7

Yup, crazy isn't it. You would think in this day and age if you owned the OS, then you owned the OS.

I've had to do it a couple of times when fixing friends machines that came with OEM licences pre-installed. It's all automated and mostly painless but can be a bit time consuming. In my experience it usually happens if the motherboard is replaced.

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