Upgrading - Need to Clean Install Win 7?

[Dallows]

Seems like a simple question. Searched a little, didn't see anything.

Basically installing a new cpu, mobo, ram tonight. Wondering if we still need to do a clean install. Maybe I can do a bare metal restore with Acronis.

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[engiNURD]

what are you upgrading from? If its the same chipset, a win7 restore should work fine. as always, the recommendation is a clean install, though.

 

[Shadowssong]

If you are installing a new mobo then yes I would do a clean install, you could probably get away without doing it but I would do it anyways.

 

[Dallows]

If you are installing a new mobo then yes I would do a clean install, you could probably get away without doing it but I would do it anyways.

I'm hoping I can get away with a bare-metal restore. That should wipe the drivers and allow the new ones to be installed clean. I spend too much time configuring Win7 to want to start over.

Thanks.

 

[Corban227]

what are the reasons for doing a clean install when you put in a new mobo? also would you have to do a clean install if you were only changing the core?

 

[defaultluser]

what are the reasons for doing a clean install when you put in a new mobo?

It saves you from any potential issues with older drivers causing conflicts. Roughly 95% of the time, you could get away with just installing the board and running with it (believe me, I've done this before). But the headaches of a driver conflict can more than erase the time you "saved" keeping your Windows install.

also would you have to do a clean install if you were only changing the core?

No, processors do not require complex drivers (the only thing that comes to mind is power saving software).

 

[Corban227]

does this apply more when your changing brands of motherboards (i.e. gigabyte to asus)

 

[defaultluser]

does this apply more when your changing brands of motherboards (i.e. gigabyte to asus)

It applies to changing virtually anything. Moving between manufacturers is not some magical trigger point telling you you need to reinstall.

Take this example: two motherboard models from the SAME manufacturer using the same chipset are bound to have different devices on them. These differences could be:

1. "premium" features like USB 3.0 or SATA III or a SATA RAID chip to support more drives, or Wifi/Bluetooth, Firewire, etc

2. Different controller chips for all the features normally included with a motherboard (but not integrated in the chipset itself). Examples are, different quality of sound chip, or network adapter, etc.

So, for virtually every motherboard swap, you could have issues (very small chance) if you don't reinstall.

 

[Dallows]

It's a pretty big upgrade. Especially the motherboard. Going from Socket 939 to AM2/3. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Ricedaddy]

I always prefer to do a clean install when hardware changes significantly. My ram is off to rma and my machine is getting a clean install of Windows 7 when it comes back. Maybe overkill, but I find fewer issues when clean installs come moderatetly often.

 

[Corban227]

It applies to changing virtually anything. Moving between manufacturers is not some magical trigger point telling you you need to reinstall.

Take this example: two motherboard models from the SAME manufacturer using the same chipset are bound to have different devices on them. These differences could be:

1. "premium" features like USB 3.0 or SATA III or a SATA RAID chip to support more drives, or Wifi/Bluetooth, Firewire, etc

2. Different controller chips for all the features normally included with a motherboard (but not integrated in the chipset itself). Examples are, different quality of sound chip, or network adapter, etc.

So, for virtually every motherboard swap, you could have issues (very small chance) if you don't reinstall.

gotcha. that makes sense. then could this be avoided by using driver sweep before swaping out major hardware? by using the original disks to uninstall and then using driver sweep couldnt yo utheoreticaly get rid of all the drivers so there would be no issues? i would think that would be easier than doing a full clean install and then reinstalling all your programs again. when i did a clean install on my ssd, i must have spent 15 hours reinstalling everything.

 

[defaultluser]

gotcha. that makes sense. then could this be avoided by using driver sweep before swaping out major hardware? by using the original disks to uninstall and then using driver sweep couldnt yo utheoreticaly get rid of all the drivers so there would be no issues? i would think that would be easier than doing a full clean install and then reinstalling all your programs again. when i did a clean install on my ssd, i must have spent 15 hours reinstalling everything.

We can argue the benefits / disbenefits all day, and never come to an agreement, so I'm not going to bother.

I'm only telling you why people do these things, because you asked. I'm not here to try to convince YOU to do it

I typically do major upgrades every two years, and those are the only times I need to reinstall (unless a disk dies).

 

[Corban227]

lol yea... mainly im hoping that i could be successful with a mobo change without a fresh install. right now im having some mobo issues where about once a month, my pcie slot will stop working correctly, so every time i open up a lot of 2d intensive programs, the vid card will stop working.

the reason i know its the mobo is cause i can just reset the Cmos and everything goes back to running perfectly.....
its not that much of a bi deal but it would be nice not have to reset everythign once a month =P
o well

 

[engiNURD]

lol yea... mainly im hoping that i could be successful with a mobo change without a fresh install. ...

Yes, with the right software/configuration. I think the most common for home users is Acronis.

It's a pretty big upgrade. Especially the motherboard. Going from Socket 939 to AM2/3. I'll let you know what happens.

btw, you can probably test your bare metal restore with a vm.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Windows 7 is much more forgiving in terms of hardware changes than XP was, so your chances are better. However, I'd still prefer to do a clean install, just to make sure all my drivers and apps go on cleanly, and with updated versions. Clean installs never take as long as people make them out to seem, especially if you are installing from a flash drive. Doesn't anyone actually still install Windows 7 form a DVD?

 

[Dallows]

Yes, with the right software/configuration. I think the most common for home users is Acronis.

btw, you can probably test your bare metal restore with a vm.

No time man!

Windows 7 is much more forgiving in terms of hardware changes than XP was, so your chances are better. However, I'd still prefer to do a clean install, just to make sure all my drivers and apps go on cleanly, and with updated versions. Clean installs never take as long as people make them out to seem, especially if you are installing from a flash drive. Doesn't anyone actually still install Windows 7 form a DVD?

Its not just the os install. Its the software after, reconfiguring, etc. That shit takes hours.

 

[engiNURD]

yah, thats why i loved nLite. anything similar for win7 yet? iirc, vLite is gone since the guy got hired by MS.

no time? then go for it! worst case, you'll be doing a clean install anyhow, lol.

 

[Dallows]

yah, thats why i loved nLite. anything similar for win7 yet? iirc, vLite is gone since the guy got hired by MS.

no time? then go for it! worst case, you'll be doing a clean install anyhow, lol.

Gonna go the acronis route. If I set it to high priority it doesn' take that long to backup. I actually did one the other night thinking it was an incremental, lol.

 

[Corban227]

how does acronis help in the changing over process? isnt it just a backup program?

No time man!



Its not just the os install. Its the software after, reconfiguring, etc. That shit takes hours.

yea nail on the head. the actual windows 7 install takes like 20 minutes. its the reinstalling everything that was there before (itunes being the worst for having to re-authorize friends computers and getting all playlists etc set up

 

[Dallows]

how does acronis help in the changing over process? isnt it just a backup program?




yea nail on the head. the actual windows 7 install takes like 20 minutes. its the reinstalling everything that was there before (itunes being the worst for having to re-authorize friends computers and getting all playlists etc set up

With Acronis if you have the Plus Package for the home version or the Universal Restore for the workstation version when you do a recovery from bootable CD you can do it to dissimilar hardware. Meaning it will strip the old drivers allowing you to install the new ones cleanly.

I'm back up and running now. Seems to be okay.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Its not just the os install. Its the software after, reconfiguring, etc. That shit takes hours.

Not if you plan ahead (as in have all your software and drivers ready. Again, people make a reinstall out to be a grueling long process, and it doesn't have to be. I keep a 16 GB flash drive with everything from my drivers, my wallpaper, my software, etc. I use one flash drive to install Windows 7, and the second to reload my apps, and I'm done.

 

[engiNURD]

Not if you plan ahead (as in have all your software and drivers ready. Again, people make a reinstall out to be a grueling long process, and it doesn't have to be. I keep a 16 GB flash drive with everything from my drivers, my wallpaper, my software, etc. I use one flash drive to install Windows 7, and the second to reload my apps, and I'm done.

s'all about slipstreaming everything. I'm too lazy to do it for win7 though, lol. I'm waiting for an nLite equiv. ... or some usb3.0 flash drives... mmmmmmm.

 

[DeaconFrost]

s'all about slipstreaming everything.

That's what amazes me. I see a lot of people complain that they have so much to do after installing the OS, so much to install and configure, etc...but never once do I see them use an image and/or sysprep. If they won't use this method, than a reinstall can't be a big deal to them, right? Never makes sense.

 

[Stoly]

you can always sysprep.

 

[Dallows]

Not if you plan ahead (as in have all your software and drivers ready. Again, people make a reinstall out to be a grueling long process, and it doesn't have to be. I keep a 16 GB flash drive with everything from my drivers, my wallpaper, my software, etc. I use one flash drive to install Windows 7, and the second to reload my apps, and I'm done.

Drivers aren't really a big deal. But I like to customize my OS, especially with Win 7. I hate a lot of shit that it has by default. So I have to change that. Now a clean image of maybe shortly after that is all done would help, but I never did it, so you can blame that on me.

Also I've found that every time I do a clean install, no matter how meticulous (sp) I am, it never feels the same after. There's always something "off." You know how it is when you finally get everything set the way you want. Maybe not.

So again. It can really vary depending on the person. Sure you can have a system "up and running" in a short time. But you're leaving out a ton of variables.

All "imo" of course.

 

[Corban227]

Drivers aren't really a big deal. But I like to customize my OS, especially with Win 7. I hate a lot of shit that it has by default. So I have to change that. Now a clean image of maybe shortly after that is all done would help, but I never did it, so you can blame that on me.

Also I've found that every time I do a clean install, no matter how meticulous (sp) I am, it never feels the same after. There's always something "off." You know how it is when you finally get everything set the way you want. Maybe not.

So again. It can really vary depending on the person. Sure you can have a system "up and running" in a short time. But you're leaving out a ton of variables.

All "imo" of course.

completely agree. i always feel like i forgot to change a setting because i have so many things i change. the pain is that for the next month im on my computer and suddenly realize something i forgot to do, so i spend the next 30 minutes changing whatever it was etcetc. (not to mention the file organization lol)

 

[DeaconFrost]

All those reasons you both give above are why you should be using images then. This is like complaining about high medical bills when you refuse to get health insurance.

Windows 7 needs less tweaking and customizing than any Windows OS before. If you insist using the system otherwise, this is a perfect opportunity for you to do a clean install, set it up the way you want, and then create your first system image.