New Motherboard Install

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark
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Mark

Does anyone know the answer? If I install a new motherboard of the exact
same kind, and change nothing else, will the machine see that as a new
hardware change and want to reactivate?
 
Does anyone know the answer? If I install a new motherboard of the
exact same kind, and change nothing else, will the machine see
that as a new hardware change and want to reactivate?
Click to expand...


If you are running a SLP (BIOS Locked) copy of Vista, no.

If you are running a retail or OEM version, yes.

Adam
 
The answer depends on many things. Hardware changes are cumulative. This
means that Windows increments a counter every time you change some hardware.
Once the counter reaches a certain point you will need to activate. When you
change a motherboard Windows may detect many changes even if the same make
and model is used. If the motherboard has an on board NIC the MAC will be
different. Some motherboards have serial numbers in the BIOS. Some
peripherals on some motherboards (i.e. video,sound, h.d. controller) may
have serial numbers. It is very common for manufacturers to change the chips
used on a motherboard without changing the model number. What this means is
that Windows will detect some changes with a new motherboard. You can't know
in advance what or how many changes. This combined with any previous
hardware changes you may have done may cause Windows to trigger activation.
You won't know until you try it.
 
I've had really good experience with changing motherboards with the
exact kind (even with a different MAC address on the onboard NIC). No
re-activation needed. All the other hardware was the same. It just
rebooted like nothing happened.

I've also done another motherboard, but a different model, and yes, I
did have to reactivate.

Of course, reactivation isn't too big of an issue. If it doesn't work
online, a phone call to Microsoft is all it takes.
 
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