# Will windows 10 "survive" if i change MoBo+CPU+RAM?



## bosone (Oct 27, 2020)

i now have a relatively old PC with windows 10 installed.
If i upgrade and change MoBo+CPU+RAM, will I need to reinstall windows 10 or will it "adapt" and just intsall the new needed drivers?


----------



## Pictus (Oct 27, 2020)

It is OLD, better reinstall from scratch.
But it may survive, but you will have to reactivate the new Windows and software...
Make sure to first download the new drivers.


----------



## bosone (Oct 27, 2020)

Pictus said:


> It is OLD, better reinstall from scratch.
> But it may survive, but you will have to reactivate the new Windows and software...
> Make sure to first download the new drivers.



thanks! 
i have installed windows 10 last march, indeed... when it will be the time, i may try to just switch the hardware and see what happen, but reinstalling everything from zero will be SO MUCH time consuming that i may just skip it and use less demanding libraries! :-/


----------



## lychee (Oct 27, 2020)

Clean resettlement will always be more appropriate. Because by just changing the components, there will always be elements of your old configuration that could conflict with the new machine


----------



## Mornats (Oct 27, 2020)

I've always been told it's worth doing a fresh install. One of the reasons is to get rid of the old motherboard drivers and replace them with the new ones. However I know that it'll take me around a week to get everything installed and activated again so I know it's a daunting proposition and a right pain!


----------



## Manaberry (Oct 27, 2020)

When I changed my CPU+Mobo last January, everything went fine. Windows just needed a new confirmation to associate the product key to the new hardware ID.

I did a complete reinstallation 6 months later for another reason. It cost nothing to try if you somehow already planned to reinstall Windows.


----------



## pixel (Oct 27, 2020)

I'd like to ask related question: if my key is assigned to my MS (outlook) account, then I just have to reinstall and activate (log in to my account) or I need to deactivate W10 before changing to new PC? I have retail W10.


----------



## Technostica (Oct 27, 2020)

It might work but two things to keep in mind. 

If you have an OEM version of W10 then it will likely be tied to your motherboard so you will need to buy a new license. 

A lot of software is authorised to your hardware so if you change it you will need to reauthorise it. 
Deauthorise your software before you change the hardware as with some you can only do that on the original hardware. 
You won't generally need to uninstall it. 

Good luck.


----------



## MartinH. (Oct 27, 2020)

bosone said:


> thanks!
> i have installed windows 10 last march, indeed... when it will be the time, i may try to just switch the hardware and see what happen, but reinstalling everything from zero will be SO MUCH time consuming that i may just skip it and use less demanding libraries! :-/



Because of dreading to reinstall all the audio stuff etc. I am now using a ~9 year old windows 7 install...


----------



## bosone (Oct 27, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> Because of dreading to reinstall all the audio stuff etc. I am now using a ~9 year old windows 7 install...



i was exactly in your situation. i have actually migrate to win10 during the lockdown in italy last march... it took me more than an entire weekend!
problem is that changing also to a high-end pc now would require much more money! :(


----------



## José Herring (Oct 27, 2020)

bosone said:


> i now have a relatively old PC with windows 10 installed.
> If i upgrade and change MoBo+CPU+RAM, will I need to reinstall windows 10 or will it "adapt" and just intsall the new needed drivers?


I just did this. I just cloned my old harddrive and replaced it and also mobo ram and cpu. It is working great. 

Probably a clean instal would be better but in this day and age nealy imposible to rebuild everything from scratch. Would have taken me weeks.


----------



## easyrider (Oct 27, 2020)

I have done this loads of times...go for it...just make sure any Ilok licences are activated to the Ilok and not your PC...check before you do anything...

I don’t have any ilok licences on my pc I keep them on the Ilok purely for this very reason. If your Windows becomes corrupt Ilok is a PITA. if the licences are on the Ilok it doesn’t matter...

Ive swapped out about numerous motherboards and chips over the last couple of years...Just re activate Windows and all should be good...

Let Windows update the drivers...etc...

I also keep a system image using Windows 7 backup built in to Windows 10 just in case i need to go through the recovery process...


----------



## sndmarks (Oct 27, 2020)

So what did I do wrong? 

Same drives and cards, but swapped to new mobo, CPU, and RAM. 

Now it's giving me the "this isn't a registered copy and you're gonna burn in hell" message. What was supposed to be an easy fix has turned into the machine sitting around waiting for me to have time to dig in and fix it.


----------



## Technostica (Oct 27, 2020)

Technostica said:


> It might work but two things to keep in mind.
> 
> 1. If you have an OEM version of W10 then it will likely be tied to your motherboard so you will need to buy a new license.





sndmarks said:


> So what did I do wrong?
> 
> Same drives and cards, but swapped to new mobo, CPU, and RAM.
> 
> Now it's giving me the "this isn't a registered copy and you're gonna burn in hell" message. What was supposed to be an easy fix has turned into the machine sitting around waiting for me to have time to dig in and fix it.


See above.


----------



## mscp (Oct 27, 2020)

bosone said:


> i now have a relatively old PC with windows 10 installed.
> If i upgrade and change MoBo+CPU+RAM, will I need to reinstall windows 10 or will it "adapt" and just intsall the new needed drivers?



I'm not an expert on Win10 but I've heard many people who tried and failed for a variety of reasons. To be safe, perform a clean install.


----------



## easyrider (Oct 27, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> I'm not an expert on Win10 but I've heard many people who tried and failed for a variety of reasons. To be safe, perform a clean install.



Ive done it loads of times...it saves time and if you know what you are doing a reinstall is just not needed..


----------



## mscp (Oct 27, 2020)

easyrider said:


> Ive done it loads of times...it saves time and if you know what you are doing a reinstall is just not needed..



wow. CPU's too? that'd be so convenient.


----------



## easyrider (Oct 27, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> wow. CPU's too? that'd be so convenient.



I’ve even swapped out chipsets...

Z390 9900k
B450 Ryzen 2600
B450 Ryzen 3600X
X570 Pro 3900x
X570 Ultra 3900x

Same Windows 10 install...


----------



## kitekrazy (Oct 28, 2020)

easyrider said:


> I have done this loads of times...go for it...*just make sure any Ilok licences are activated to the Ilok and not your PC...check before you do anything...*
> 
> I don’t have any ilok licences on my pc I keep them on the Ilok purely for this very reason. If your Windows becomes corrupt Ilok is a PITA. if the licences are on the Ilok it doesn’t matter...
> 
> ...



Learned that the hard way. You have to contact the developers to get the license reset.

There are too many types of software activation to do a clean install. My recent build needed to reactivate W10 and it was settled with MS support.

W10 seems to do a much better job at hardware migration than W7.


----------



## Technostica (Oct 28, 2020)

If people are having problems then one thing worth trying is to do an in-situ upgrade to the latest version of W10 which will definitely have the latest drivers.
So if you have W10 1909, create a boot disk on a USB stick for a later version.
Boot to the USB stick and install the upgrade from that.
Note: Don't do a clean install.
This might be helpful if you have old hardware and an old version of W10 installed.




easyrider said:


> I’ve even swapped out chipsets...
> 
> Z390 9900k
> B450 Ryzen 2600
> ...


Swapping chipsets is the only technical issue here as changing CPU, RAM, Drives is not a driver issue.
Moving from Intel to AMD was the only significant one as I'd hope that just moving from a 4 series to a 5 series AMD chipset can be done as that's the most basic level of platform upgrade.
Good to see it worked though even if you do have a strange and very regular urge for upgrading.
I guess you are all ready for the 5000 series CPUs which sound impressive.


----------



## easyrider (Oct 28, 2020)

Technostica said:


> Good to see it worked though even if you do have a strange and very regular urge for upgrading.
> I guess you are all ready for the 5000 series CPUs which sound impressive.



With over 40,000 posts on a PC hardware forum I’m constantly changing and upgrading..

Yes the 5000 series will be a drop in upgrade...I’ve been overclocking, benching and building for years ...it’s just want I do...


----------



## Technostica (Oct 28, 2020)

easyrider said:


> Z390 9900k
> B450 Ryzen 2600
> B450 Ryzen 3600X
> X570 Pro 3900x
> X570 Ultra 3900x





easyrider said:


> I’m constantly changing and upgrading..
> 
> Yes the 5000 series will be a drop in upgrade...I’ve been overclocking, benching and building for years ...it’s just want I do...


Sure, it's clearly a hobby for you.
I've been building and less so over-clocking since the mid 90s but it's not a hobby for me in the way it is for you.
Down/side-grading like this has never interested me:

Z390 9900k
B450 Ryzen 2600
B450 Ryzen 3600X


----------



## easyrider (Oct 28, 2020)

Technostica said:


> Sure, it's clearly a hobby for you.
> I've been building and less so over-clocking since the mid 90s but it's not a hobby for me in the way it is for you.
> Down/side-grading like this has never interested me:
> 
> ...



There was a method to my madness...the 2600 was in my Motherboard for 5 mins to flash the bios...ready for the 3600x that was in situ for 3 weeks while waiting for 3900x stock...

Then I had to wait for the x570 stock...

Thus ending up with a X570 and 3900x and hopefully soon 5900x or 5950x...


----------

