[mothraman]

I have a Gateway PC out of warranty, and the MB has died. I bought a ASUS MB with a faster CPU in a bundle, figureing I might as well upgrade somewhat since I had to buy a new MB. I do not overclock, as I am not that familiar with it. I understand I cannot just put in the MB with the new CPU, as Vista will not boot because it will not recognize the new MB or CPU since Vista was already p reinstalled by Gateway. Is this correct? I still have the original HD and case. I have seen so many conflicting stories on the internet I do not know what to believe. My assumption is that it will not validate, and I may have to call and explain that the board died. Is this true? If not, can I just buy a new license while I am on the phone with Microsoft? or do I need to buy the software and reinstall it? I have so much on my hard drive I do not want to go through a reinstall if I don't have to. Any advice would be very appreciated. I have built a few systems in the past, so its not all that new to me, but never had to replace a bad MB from a OEM manufactured PC before. Thanks Guys

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Howdy and welcome to GTG:

Unfortunately, what you have heard is correct. The system won't boot as it is now considered a completely new system. Microsoft will also consider this a new system and will not re-activate it.

You will have to buy a new license. I would suggest getting the complete cd, etc just in case you need to do repairs down the road.

Murray

[Murray S.]

Howdy and welcome to GTG:

Unfortunately, what you have heard is correct. The system won't boot as it is now considered a completely new system. Microsoft will also consider this a new system and will not re-activate it.

You will have to buy a new license. I would suggest getting the complete cd, etc just in case you need to do repairs down the road.

Murray

[mothraman]

Thanks Murray, one question; If I upgrade Vista to Vista Ultimate, that would not work either, as I would only get an upgrade disk correct? Then I wouldn't be able to boot from it, or would I? Then activate the new Vista Ultimate thereby keeping all of my current data etc. intact on the HD? BTW very nice site you guys have here, very helpful and much appreciated

[Murray S.]

Personally, what I would be doing is slaving my old hdd to a different system and moving my files, pics, docs, etc to that harddrive.

Then, I would do a full install of Vista Ultimate and then move my files back via flashdrive or cd.

Murray

[mothraman]

Yeah I thought about that as well, just buy a new HD (I wasn't planning on it at this point as the current one works fine) then buy a retail version of Vista and do a clean install on the new HD, and use my current drive as a data or slave drive. Was trying to avoid all of that, plus the reinstall of all of my programs I have as well as all of the software updates, games etc. Of course I suppose I could just run them from where they are as opposed to running from the new HD no?

[Murray S.]

Nope. If you tried, you would be back at square one as the old hdd would not recognize the new mobo nor have the drivers, etc needed in Registry to run.

Murray

[mothraman]

Yeah, I was thinking that, wishful thinking I guess that I could avoid all the fuss. You would think Microsoft would just let you call, pay the license fee, ship out a disk to you, and change the license to your name, making everything much easier, or at least give you that option. They get their license fee, and the user can continue with a new upgraded system without to much difficulty. Oh well, guess I'll go through all the work. Thanks again Murray for your time and help!

[Murray S.]

They will do that but it isn't much cheaper, if any, than going out and buying an OEM version.

Murray

[mothraman]

Well, I have no problem paying the license fee, all I am trying to do is avoid having to "reinstall" Vista and all my programs and tweaks to get everything back to where it is now. SO, it WILL boot, then get to the desktop and stop any functionality? I thought it would not even boot! If I can get to the desktop, or splash screen, and then call, get a license, pay them, input the code and then continue to update with the new MB and CPU, I would be satisfied. (and if they will send me out a copy of the operating system for the new license fee) I have not seen anywhere where that will happen, unless I misunderstood.

[Murray S.]

Microsoft willnot replace any OEM software as that is up to the manufacturer. They will send you a retail version of their software for a fee.

Or, you can just purchase a new copy from a store. It is your choice totally.

Murray

[mothraman]

So it looks like I back up data, wipe HD, reinstall a retail version of Vista with new Mobo and CPU installed, then copy or transfer data back to hd correct?

[Murray S.]

Yep.

Murray

[gclipse02]

Howdy and welcome to GTG:

Unfortunately, what you have heard is correct. The system won't boot as it is now considered a completely new system. Microsoft will also consider this a new system and will not re-activate it.

You will have to buy a new license. I would suggest getting the complete cd, etc just in case you need to do repairs down the road.

Murray

I was just reading this post... For my own knowledge though...

I've pulled good HDs from OEM systems and installed them in my test computer, then booted from them. They do give a warning message about the hardware changing, which I would expect given a new processor and MB. I then had to reactivate it if I planned on keeping the setup or just left it alone for the temporary boot, as I was going to return it to the old system. I've used both methods; re-activating and ignoring. They both worked fine... So what would the difference be between my method and Mothraman installing a new MB/Proc combo? Good knowledge for future reference, thanks

Edited by gclipse02, 08 December 2008 - 12:31 PM.

[SRX660]

Funny thing about Microsoft and the XP operating System. A customer brought me a compaq SR1150 computer that was completely dead. Bad motherboard was the problem. Serching for a MB i came across a FIC similar Intel 915 chipset MB that had no video. So i bought a Nvidia 7300 LE video card off Ebay and use it. When i went to register the system with Microsoft all they asked me if i had major changes to the system . I explained that i had to replace the motherboard that was no longer produced and that i had to install the 7300 video card. Microsoft activated the system with no more questions or problems. I did have to wipe the drive and clean install and i did have the original activation sticker on the side of the compaq case that had the 5 sets of numbers.

The people are happy and they now say the computer is faster than it ever was before. Maybe something to do with no bloatware compaq software on the system. The customer did say something about missing some kind of graphics program, so i went over and downloaded Photoscape to their computer and the wife is happy now.

SRX660