Never Done This Before

[fireurza]

so normally when i build a new system i get a new hdd and new os and have to reinstall everything. but this time i dont quite have the money for a new os and cant find alot of the important cd keys i need... at least the cd keys that are important to me.... i have vista 64 bit and am thinking of just upgrading my entire system to a amd 8350 cpu, 2 ati 7770 2gb vid cards, 16 gb of ram on a 3 way crossfire/sli ready mobo. what can i expect if i use the same hdd without doing a wipe at all... i know it should still work and im expecting just a driver search for now... but what else can i expect? btw im taking moving all 3 of my hdd one of which has windows....

[HarryWeezer]

You'll have hardware and driver mismatches which may or may not crash the system, particularly with a Vista OS. It also may be an illegal use of the Vista OS since in effect, you're installing it on a new machine. Can't hurt to try - won't damage anything.

[Blackbart]

If you load "Belarc Adviser" (a free program) and run it, it will list all the keys to the programs you have loaded on you computer... :)

[djMot]

Yeah, that's just asking for trouble. Even if it does successfully boot, you'll probably get an illegal registration notification on boot telling you to contact M$ to resolve the issue. Since it's a new machine, they will say, "yeah, you need to purchase a new copy of windows for that..."

[Labob]

Well here the story it will work or it wil not. If it does not work you know what to do. If it does work congrats ! but some where down the line you will get an error message. So that being said your best bet is use the same manufacterer as the old stuff. Asus to asus an gigibyte to and so on you should be ok that way.

[WiZiD]

Just wipe it and reinstall. They do not care if it is on another PC as long as it is ONLY on one. And Blackbart is correct...Belarc Adviser will give you all your numbers/cd codes

[fireurza]

lol now to find cod4 and and my windows vista cd as well as a few other cds.... ive moved 8 times in the last 5 years... lost alot of things in terms of cds.

[WiZiD]

Good Luck....

[Cavey]

lol now to find cod4 and and my windows vista cd as well as a few other cds.... ive moved 8 times in the last 5 years... lost alot of things in terms of cds.

 

One bit of advise, try loosing Windows Vista Once on Windows 7 you won't look back

[djMot]

Just wipe it and reinstall. They do not care if it is on another PC as long as it is ONLY on one. And Blackbart is correct...Belarc Adviser will give you all your numbers/cd codes

 

That is incorrect.

 

Windows is linked to the specific hardware parameters it was able to gather and phone home with during the registration process. Attempts to modify the hardware beyond a certain point will trigger a request that the user contact Microsoft for instructions on how to re-register the product. Windows is licensed to a specific computer, and may not be randomly reassigned to another computer, even if the old computer is decommissioned and/or scrapped for parts.

 

This is also true of Microsoft Office products. At one time, I had anticipated transferring a Microsoft Office Professional license from an old Dell computer to a new Dell computer. It was at that time, while discussing doing so with a Dell sales rep, that he informed me the licensing agreement for Microsoft Office is also tied to a specific machine and may not be transferred to another. I went back and read the EULA and found that was precisely the case.

[kovut]

When I built mine I just had to reactivate windows vista and install the motherboard drivers.