Vista motherboard swap

[Stu]

I got a job coming up tomorrow for a client who wants his existing Vista rig upgrading. He has purchased a new motherboard and CPU. I am unsure whether it is of the same chipset family.

I know that with XP it was possible to change the motherboard without re-installing the OS by uninstalling the motherboard drivers and selecting generic versions in device manager. If that somehow failed then a repair install usually saved the day.

However I have not yet tried this with Vista, and wondered whether it can be done? In particular I am concerned about the SATA drivers as I'm unsure whether these can be changed to generic versions in device manager?

I am also aware that there is no repair install in Vista other than doing an upgrade install from within the OS.

Has anybody done this with Vista yet?

 

[DohIForgot]

Done it, vista will complain and you'll need to reactivate it. Be prepared to write down a 40+ digit key with a guy on the phone.

The bigger question is, what version of Vista is he using? OEM or Retail? OEM states you can't swap the motherboard without a new copy of Winodws.

 

[Stu]

Justin, I'm pretty sure it is an OEM license, I believe it is the key that came with his brand name PC.

Will it simply not work with OEM or is more of a case of infringing the license?

 

[DohIForgot]

Infringement.

https://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?PageID=552846#faq2

Q. My customer bought a new PC and wants to move the OEM software from the old PC to the new one. Can't users do whatever they want with their software?

A. The OEM software is licensed with the computer system on which it was originally installed and is tied to that original machine. OEM licenses are single-use licenses that cannot be installed on more than one computer system, even if the original machine is no longer in use. The End User License Agreement (EULA), which the end user must accept before using the software, states that the license may not be shared, transferred to, or used concurrently on different computers. System builders must provide end-user support for the Windows license on computers they build, but cannot support licenses on computers they didn’t build. This is a fundamental reason why OEM System Builder licenses can't be transferred.

Microsoft pretty much says the motherboard is what the OEM license gets "married" to.

This has a copy of a newsgroup posting by the OEM team talking about XP and the MB as well.

 

[dhrandy]

Infringement.

https://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?PageID=552846#faq2

Q. My customer bought a new PC and wants to move the OEM software from the old PC to the new one. Can't users do whatever they want with their software?

A. The OEM software is licensed with the computer system on which it was originally installed and is tied to that original machine. OEM licenses are single-use licenses that cannot be installed on more than one computer system, even if the original machine is no longer in use. The End User License Agreement (EULA), which the end user must accept before using the software, states that the license may not be shared, transferred to, or used concurrently on different computers. System builders must provide end-user support for the Windows license on computers they build, but cannot support licenses on computers they didn’t build. This is a fundamental reason why OEM System Builder licenses can't be transferred.

Microsoft pretty much says the motherboard is what the OEM license gets "married" to.

Sometimes they will make an exception if the motherboard is being replaced because the old one stopped working.

 

[DohIForgot]

Ok, thats it! no more posts for me until i get coffee.

In my case, I had this siutation. OEM, but the MB went south 30 days in. I replaced it with the same Manufacturer, 1 model up (they could see the new and old info in the DB and could tell). They let me reactivate, in this situation.