Reformat HD with new mobo?

Do I need to reformat my HD when replacing the mobo? The HD currently runs Vista on it. My old mobo died and I really don't want to lose what is on it.thanks

 

The short answer is yes: When Windows was installed with your old mobo, it "tweaked" the registry, drivers and license code to match it. Although it's theoretically possible to stick the drive in "as-is", it's likely you'll have horrible performance and Blue Screens of Death, even if you update the drivers for the new board.

To get the data off, the best options are to either

* Use a new HDD for the fresh install, transfer the data to it, reformat the old drive, and make a copy of the data back to it as a backup, or

* Hook the old drive to another PC, copy the files you need to it, reformat/reload the drive with Windows then transfer the data back to your PC, or

* If the PC will start with the old mobo copy of Windows, run Files & Settings Transfer Wizard (given the issues I noted above, this would be my least favorite option due to the possibility of the files being corrupted in the process).

Hope this helps.

 

Hi gman863,

Is it not possible to re-install Windows on the same drive without doing a distructive format? Re-installing the OS should fix the problems?