I've ordered a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and graphics card (it's a 64 Bit Athlon) I was just wondering if i will need to reinstall Windows or not? It's just that i've had my current Windows install now since last March and it's never had a problem (i'm proud!) although yeah it probably is a bit slower now. The thing is i have SO many applications etc installed that it'd be hard to know what I had installed and to back it all up, should I do have to reinstall. Secondly, what precautions should i take before installing the new board - would it be advised to remove ALL drivers and devices from Device Manager before removing the old motherboard and hardware? Another thing, when upgrading motherboard, will I lose my network settings? Because I currently use the onboard LAN and i plan to on my new motherboard too, so I was wondering if I have to reconfigure IP addresses and so on? Thanks for any help!! Alex

Since you are changing your mobo, you will either have to reinstall or repair Windows. That's all I did with my son's was replace the mobo and it wouldn't boot up in Windows. I just did a clean install. If you do a repair install then I wouldn't think you would have to reconfigure your network. All your settings should remain intack but if you have sp2 you may have to reinstall it.

Alex, This is a somewhat age-old problem that IMHO has never been possible until recently. Check this thread out: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/1400925745 It will walk you though it. If you have the time the replies in this thread also offer a ton of insight. Repair installs work sometimes, at best. A fresh install is always best, but if you must keep your existing install then check out the link.

But first - backup any/all critcical files (data etc.). Also ensure (if going a fresh start) that you all drivers and have also noted the assorted CD-keys/numbers for all installed software (OS included).

Thanks for all the replies. In response to the last reply, is there any easy way to do this (getting the serial numbers of all installed software/OS?) Cheers

aida32 (aka " everest " in a later/more recent form) will do it all for you. Do a trawl (google/teoma etc.) for either/both: aida32 everest and you should get the download sites (free util). Run it from within the curent installation. The util generates a report on just about everything that's inside the PC; hardware/software etc...

Ok thanks for that, i'll give it a try! Alex