Windows – Can Windows 7 be repaired to run with new motherboard

bootrepairwindows 7

I have HP computer and it came with Windows Vista. It also had an option to upgrade to Windows 7 via upgrade disc. I have upgraded to Windows 7 via the special upgrade disc (It is special because it will only allow to install Windows 7 if Vista is already installed.

My motherboard recently died. I just replaced it and Windows 7 will not start up. It reboots and sometimes gives a blue screen of death. Very similar problem as described in this post: Unexpected replacement of motherboard now windows 7 won't boot. Windows will not boot into normal or safe mode. Start up repair from system repair disc does not fix the problem. However, "Can I run my win7 on another machine with different motherboard?" post on superuser describes that it should be possible to run Windows 7 on a new motherboard.

Is it hopeless to find a way to repair Windows 7 and I need to do a clean install? Is there a difference for repair options between OEM and retail versions of Windows 7? I remember doing this type of repair just fine in Windows XP days, so why am I unable to do so with Windows 7 – is it Microsoft or HP's fault? Should I stop buying HP computers or should I switch to Ubuntu?

Best Answer

I just used this tutorial to get back into my Windows 7 SP1 32-bit operating system. My inital problem is the same as yours in that I replaced my motherboard, CPU, Graphics Card and RAM and when I rebooted my PC; Windows crashed with a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) after the starting logo.

The new motherboard I was using was an MSI Z77A-G41 Plus. Here is a short version of the tutorial (in case the link goes dead):

  1. Download drivers for your motherboard and unpack them onto a USB or CD-Drive (I used a USB)

  2. Create a Windows Repair USB/DVD for your version of Windows

  3. Boot your PC into the Repair Utility and run the repair on your Windows, when this fails use back to get yourself to a menu with a command prompt option on.

  4. Insert your USB/DVD with the drivers

  5. Hit command prompt and find your USB/DVD drive letter using:

    dir $DRIVE:\

where $DRIVE is a letter from C-Z (mine was E:\ for instance), eventually you will find the USB/DVD with the drivers on. Once that is done enter the following line:

dism /image:$WINDOWSDRIVE:\ /add-driver /Driver:$MEDIA:\ /recurse

where $WINDOWSDRIVE will be C (or perhaps D depending what HDD your Windows sits on) and $MEDIA will be the Drive letter of your USB/DVD with the drivers on.

This should successfully copy your new motherboard's drivers across to Windows. Boot your PC back into Windows, at this point it may fix itself. But if it doesn't (as in my case) then attempt to switch your SATA mode from AHCI to IDE in the BIOS and start using Last Known Configuration. This rectified the problem for me but if this doesn't work for you remember that the hard part is probably over and you are quite close to having your OS back.

Finally, if you do manage to get back into your Windows, be prepared for an Activation message and have the key handy for your windows install. Best of luck and please feel free to ask any questions below.

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