New mobo and CPU. Need Wipe?

[plofisto777]

So recently I've been thinking about possibly upgrading my current tower with a new motherboard and a cpu, my question here is if I were to get a different type of cpu socket with a mobo that goes with it, will I have to wipe my entire OS and hard drive for the new one? What if I was to go from AMD to Intel or vice versa, would I have to wipe and start fresh? Sorry for asking some strange and probably dumb questions but I was just curious on what I could do about upgrading without having to possibly back up all my data. Any info is greatly appreciated.

 

[PP Mguire]

Depends on if Windows wants to be nice or what version you have already. Sometimes simply swapping boards will cause BSOD which will then require a fresh format. Sometimes some people can stick with the same install for 3 or 4 platform changes. Only thing I can say is assume you will need to do a fresh format, purchase whatever it is you want to buy and try running the new parts on the current install.

As a small FYI though, it's always best to do a fresh format when making major hardware changes.

 

[carnageX]

What OS do you have? If Win7, what version (Home Premium, Pro, etc.)?

Generally it's a 50/50 shot if on Win7. I've seen Win7 Pro work more often than the other editions.

For XP, you just need to perform a repair install from the disc.

I would just try it honestly. If it boots up - great. Let it install the drivers, and install any drivers it missed manually. If it doesn't work, it will BSOD and you'll just have to reinstall (or try using Sysprep).

Sysprep: Transferring a hard drive to a new computer? [Solved] - Hard Drives - Storage

You can also do an in-place install without formatting the drive with Win7/8. During Setup, if you choose the partition with the existing Windows install on it without formatting, it will notify you of this, and will say it will move all your files to C:\Windows.old.

 

[plofisto777]

I'm currently using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit if that makes a difference. So if it were to BSOD would I lose any files/data or would I just have to start fresh from there?

 

[carnageX]

I'm currently using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit if that makes a difference. So if it were to BSOD would I lose any files/data or would I just have to start fresh from there?

See my previous post:

What OS do you have? If Win7, what version (Home Premium, Pro, etc.)?

Generally it's a 50/50 shot if on Win7. I've seen Win7 Pro work more often than the other editions.

For XP, you just need to perform a repair install from the disc.

I would just try it honestly. If it boots up - great. Let it install the drivers, and install any drivers it missed manually. If it doesn't work, it will BSOD and you'll just have to reinstall (or try using Sysprep).

Sysprep: Transferring a hard drive to a new computer? [Solved] - Hard Drives - Storage

You can also do an in-place install without formatting the drive with Win7/8. During Setup, if you choose the partition with the existing Windows install on it without formatting, it will notify you of this, and will say it will move all your files to C:\Windows.old.

 

[PP Mguire]

You will only lose data if you format or mess with the partition during install.