

- CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED HOW TO
- CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED INSTALL
- CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED DRIVERS
- CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED UPGRADE
- CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED REGISTRATION
CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED INSTALL
Unpack the new motherboard, making sure to remove the CPU socket protector before proceeding with CPU installation.ĭon’t forget to install the ATX I/O back plate, or you’ll find yourself removing the motherboard to install it. Also confirm that they’re properly aligned vertically. Make sure they’re installed–some may have come out when you removed the original board. Motherboard Installationīefore you drop in the new motherboard, check the standoffs that accept the mounting screws. Be sure to remove the ATX I/O plate, too. Store the board in an antistatic envelope. Once you’ve disconnected all the wiring, take out the mounting screws and set them aside, and then wiggle the motherboard out carefully. You’ll need a number 2 Phillips screwdriver, and possibly some fine needlenose pliers. (Note: Tupperware and similar containers are not a good idea.) You’ll probably want to remove the old memory and CPU, as well, storing them in appropriate, static-free containers. In fact, make sure to disconnect all wiring and cables before you start pulling out mounting screws. You need to be careful when removing the CPU cooler and, in particular, the tiny connectors that run to the status LEDs, as well as the power and reset buttons. This is one reason backups are critical: You are changing your primary storage driver.įirst, remove the old motherboard. Note that moving from one Intel RAID generation to the next usually works without a hitch. If you’re running RAID 0, it’s more complicated if the chipset manufacturers differ you may have to reimage the volume to a single drive until after the installation. If you’re running RAID 1, you might want to revert to a single-volume setup until you get the system up and running. Similar considerations hold true for RAID setups, however. Otherwise, you might experience a blue-screen error on first boot–namely, the dreaded ‘STOP 0x0000007’ error, indicating that the disk interface is unrecognized.įor this article, I’ll be upgrading a relatively standard desktop system with a single boot drive.
CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED DRIVERS
For example, if you’re moving from an nVidia chipset to an Intel one, you’ll want to make sure that your PC isn’t running proprietary nVidia drivers for IDE. Migrating between chipsets from different companies can be problematic.
CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED HOW TO
This rule of thumb may include Windows itself–I’ll talk about how to take care of that in the post-upgrade section.įirst, check your disk-interface settings. Whatever the application, if it has gone through an activation process, you need to be prepared to reactivate it when you’re installing a new motherboard. Similarly, some games will require deactivation or uninstallation if they’ve been activated. If you’re running an Adobe suite, you need to deactivate only one app to take care of the whole affair but if you’ve installed individual programs, you’ll have to deactivate those as well. However, they also have a handy “Deactivate” button in the help menu. For example, most Adobe professional apps (Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and the suites, CS3 or later) require activation. If an application requires activation, it may see a new motherboard as an attempt to copy the software illegally, and it may refuse to run as a result. Step 3: Deactivate or Uninstall Activated Applications
CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED REGISTRATION
If you have a lot of programs, grab Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder–it will pull all of your registration keys so that you can easily record them. You may have to reenter those keys, so make sure that you have them on hand, preferably on hard copy. Most modern applications require entering a registration key. Take a close look at all the software you’re running. Step 2: Collect Software Registration Keys You don’t have to clone to another hard drive just put an image file on another drive, even on the external drive that contains the data backup.

Then, if possible, make an image backup of your entire hard drive, using a tool such as Acronis True Image ($50) or DriveImage XML (free). I suggest backing up your valuable data onto an external drive first. Even if you’re not into regular backups, now is the time to back up your system. One key point to remember: You are putting your data at risk.
CHANGE MOTHERBOARD AND NOW WINDOWS 10 INS'T ACTIVATED UPGRADE
Performing a motherboard upgrade is fairly simple, and consists of three parts: pre-upgrade preparation, the physical swap, and post-upgrade polishing. I’ll focus on the process with Windows 7, but I’ll also offer tips and tricks for Windows XP and Windows Vista. The goal is to keep and maintain your existing Windows installation even after a motherboard upgrade. Here I’ll walk you through the process of upgrading the motherboard in an existing PC, including taking care of all the software issues.
