Swapping motherboard

Duds

Member
Hi, i am going to be performing an upgrade which will involve swapping motherboards without reinstalling windows 7 and xp on seperate hdds.

I have easybcd installed on win7 and would like to know if i should uninstall easybcd prior to swap or should it go without any problems?

Thanks
 
If the motherboards are not exactly the same, the chances that Windows XP or Windows 7 will be are very slim. Not to mention the fact that once you switch mother boards, you have to purchase a new license of Windows unless you installed a Retail version. OEM version can't be transferred to a new machine. Microsoft declared that a new mother board is a new machine. So yeah you could technically be running a pirated version of Windows.
 
Thanks for reply but im not concerned about licenses, i just wanted to know if i would potentially run into problems with easybcd? or would i be better to uninstall bcd then reinstall after the mobo swap has been performed.
 
Well Licenses should be a concern. Cause as I already stated, EasyBCD will not play a factor at all in this. Windows has the potential to not even boot if the mother board is not an exact swap. There are drivers installed during the setup process for that mother board you are using. Since you are switching then there is very high potential that Windows wont even boot at all. Completely negating EasyBCD from the whole aspect. EasyBCD will do just fine, but it will only show you the selection screen. After that there is no saying that Windows will boot at all. That leads to a whole different set of issues and problems that need to be fixed. All of which will revolve around the license aspect. As if they are OEM installs, then you cant reuse those licenses.
 
Im happy now that easybcd wont be a problem. I have retail xp and oem win7. I will be doing full backup and will be removing mobo drivers and have standard pci ide controllers installed, if all goes well or i have to do a system repair i will be reactivating by phone, if i can convince ms i am changing mobo this one time ( i know a fair few people who have done this). If no luck then i will buy either retail or another oem disc.

Thanks

Duds
 
They should validate your activation if the old mobo was fried and the new one is the nearest available replacement if the original type is no longer available.
For an elective upgrade to a better mobo the EULA says "no chance", but best of luck trying.
Let us know if you get lucky.
 
Here is the information direct from Microsoft themselves:

Q. Can a PC with an OEM Windows operating system have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license? What if it was replaced because it was defective?

A. Generally, an end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer—except the motherboard—and still retain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do not need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.

The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the End User Software License Terms and the support of the software covered by that End User Software License Terms. The End User Software License Terms is a set of usage rights granted to the end user by the PC manufacturer and relates only to rights for that software as installed on that particular PC. The system builder is required to support the software on the original PC. Understanding that end users, over time, upgrade their PCs with different components, Microsoft needed to have one base component "left standing" that would still define the original PC. Since the motherboard contains the CPU and is the "heart and soul" of the PC, when the motherboard is replaced (for reasons other than defect) a new PC is essentially created. The original system builder did not manufacture this new PC, and therefore cannot be expected to support it.

Just so you know. I am not trying to be a pain about it, but I highly doubt that even a phone call will get them to register the license again. They have it laid out in the EULA of the OEM license that it cant be transferred and it must die with that mobo.
 
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