Keeping windows install with mobo switch?
 

Hey all

Generally when I replace a motherboard on a system windows will so the load screen but then flicker a BSOD and won't be able to boot into the operating system. My question is if there is a way to switch a motherboard on a system but keep the windows install without having to reformat? Or if there is a link to a walk through for this. Also what causes this? Is it a driver to hardware incompatibility due to switching the board?

thanks

you can try installing the raid/chipset drivers on your current install of the new mainboard, also checking out the boot.ini; then swap mainboard and try to boot; edit boot.ini from a BartPE boot CD if needed.

no promise it will work though :/

what's your OLD mobo? did you connect on the RAID controller with the OS drive?
what's your NEW mobo? will you connect to the RAID controller with the OS drive?

Ignoring the licensing issues... this often depends on the chipsets. Generally switching from Intel to Nvidia or vice-versa isn't going to work, and often switching from older to newer chipsets does not always work. When it does, the old/new drivers are going to be a mismash... would see better performance/stability from simply reinstalling per board.