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Author Topic: Non-Destructive Windows Reload  (Read 2819 times)

Remo Nonaz

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Non-Destructive Windows Reload
« on: September 02, 2014, 09:40:43 am »

My system has had issues ever since I upgraded my CPU from an Intel Sandy Bridge i5 to an Ivy Bridge i7. I like the performance of the i7 so I finally threw in the towel and upgraded my motherboard from a Z68-based board to a more compatible Z77-based board. For good measure I also reloaded Windows 7 so that I have a fresh OS running on the new board.

Most people believe that reloading your OS requires that you wipe your C drive, reload the OS and then have to reload all your applications. Not so. If you do the reload as an 'upgrade' all the applications, data and settings will be preserved. There are a couple of tricks involved and I tried this on a cloned C drive before doing it on my live drive. A full set of instructions is available at http://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-7.html.

While I've not had a chance to fully evaluate the new board, it appears that all is well and the new motherboard / OS are doing fine. All my applications are present and no system settings appear to have changed. This process is time consuming. The 'upgrade' process takes about three hours and then the service packs have to be added, which takes another two hours or so. Still, it is much better than having to reload all your applications and then try to figure out how to get all the settings back to how you like them.

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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: Non-Destructive Windows Reload
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2014, 05:37:46 pm »

Two cautions here:
1) you likely need to install a new chipset driver as the new motherboard is different from the old one
2) if you have an OEM builder copy of Windows you cannot move to a new motherboard as it is locked to the old one; this is in the agreed terms and conditions for the software (MSFT might approve your product key for the new motherboard but there is no guarantee)

The time for this reinstall is not much different than that for a new install.  I finished a new Home Theater PC for my daughter last week and it took about three hours total to install Win7 and all of the updates.  I haven't built a Win8 PC yet but that will probably be the next one I do as MSFT is not fully supporting Win7 any longer and you cannot buy anything other than OEM system builder Win7 these days.
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Remo Nonaz

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Re: Non-Destructive Windows Reload
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2014, 07:04:03 pm »

It was a retail version of W7 and I did have to call MS to get the license squared away. I loaded the drivers for the board into a folder on the desktop before doing the board swap and with a couple of reboots the C drive was working pretty well without reloading W7.

As for saving time - if I had only a few applications to reload it would be faster and easier to do a fresh load, but with dozens of applications, all with personal settings, reloading the whole drive would have taken a month.

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I really enjoy using old primes on my m4/3 camera. There's something about having to choose your aperture and actually focusing your camera that makes it so much more like... like... PHOTOGRAPHY!

Alan Goldhammer

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Re: Non-Destructive Windows Reload
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2014, 08:37:22 pm »

Absolutely no question that you saved time and aggravation!  Glad to hear that things are working smoothly.
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Paul2660

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Re: Non-Destructive Windows Reload
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2014, 08:18:19 am »

Thanks for the link. Good know this is an option.

Paul
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Paul Caldwell
Little Rock, Arkansas U.S.
www.photosofarkansas.com
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