Retail license is the one you purchase from local store or online retailer, OEM license is preinstalled on a new computer by the manufacturer, and Volume license is distributed in bulk to large organizations. There are three types of Windows license key, OEM, Retail, and Volume. Will Windows 10/8/7 stay activated after replacing motherboard?
Do i need to reinstall windows if i change motherboard drivers#
The real trouble is, you have to reinstall or activate those installed programs, retrieve personal files, re-configure system settings, etc.Īnd if you try to replace motherboard and CPU without reinstalling, Windows 18/7 and older systems like Windows XP will most likely fail to boot, because they lack the drivers required to boot Windows after replacing major hardware.
![do i need to reinstall windows if i change motherboard do i need to reinstall windows if i change motherboard](https://www.minitool.com/images/uploads/articles/2018/08/reinstall-windows-10-without-cd/reinstall-windows-10-without-cd-6.png)
It actually won't take much time to complete a fresh install. Upgrading motherboard and CPU could bring you faster speed, better performance, the support for latest components, and also a new problem - can you keep the Windows installation while upgrading? The OS is installed to an M.2 NVMe drive on an AM3+ socket motherboard, and I will be upgrading to an AM4 socket motherboard.
![do i need to reinstall windows if i change motherboard do i need to reinstall windows if i change motherboard](https://scottiestech.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/troubleshoot-windows-10-activation.jpg)
However, I would prefer to avoid reinstalling the operating system. I would like to upgrade the motherboard and CPU of my computer, which runs Windows 10.