Starting Windows 7 with a new motherboard. Replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows

In most cases after replacing the motherboard Windows stops loading. When loading windows, a blue screen (BSOD) appears with an error STOP 0x0000007B. This is due to changing the ATA/SATA bus controller.

The fact is that Windows cannot independently change the controller driver when loading. As a result, when booting, the operating system simply loses the hard drive and cannot continue booting.

The question arises: how to produce replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows? After all, reinstalling Windows is not difficult, but all programs and settings will be lost. And this is often unacceptable!

Method replace motherboard without reinstallation OS three. If you have Windows 7, go straight to option 3

Option 1 - the old motherboard is working (Windows XP)

If it is possible to boot into Windows XP with an old motherboard, then you need to replace the IDE and SATA controller drivers with standard ones.

For this purpose in device manager open the properties of the controller (the name depends on the motherboard model). On the tab Driver press the button Update.

We answer the question about connecting to the Internet to search for a driver No, not this time and press Further. In the next window select Installation from a specified location and click Further. In the driver search options window that appears, select Don't search. I will choose the right driver myself and press Further.

In the window that appears, select from the list Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller and press Further.

After the driver installation is complete, click Ready and restart the computer.

After loading, check in Device Manager what is installed standard IDE controller driver and turn off the computer.

If there is no driver in the selection list Standard IDE Controller Driver(for example, in the case of a SATA controller), you can simply remove the installed controller driver of the old motherboard. To do this, in Device Manager, right-click on the device and select from the context menu Delete. After uninstalling, turn off your computer.

Now produce motherboard replacement to a new one. Windows XP should boot without any problems. After that, all that remains is to install all the drivers on the new motherboard from the disk and that’s it!

Option 2 - booting with old motherboard is not possible (Windows XP)

Second option replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows XP longer than the first and should be used if a computer with an old motherboard does not turn on or booting is impossible. We will need a Windows XP installation disk. If there is no disk, you can download a disk image (WinXP Professional SP3 with an integrated package of hard disk controller drivers) and burn it to a CD-R, for example, using the DeepBurner 1.9 program (the distribution kit can be downloaded for free).

For restoring Windows XP after replacing the motherboard you need to do the following:

Install the new motherboard and connect all devices.

Start booting from the Windows XP installation disc. On the first installation screen (image below), press ENTER to begin installing Windows XP.

On the next screen, press F8 to accept the license agreement.

The installer will then search for installed operating systems and display a list of them.

Select the operating system to restore and click the button R. The further process is not much different from a normal Windows XP installation. The differences are that the installer will not ask which partition of the hard drive to install the OS on and will not prompt you to enter your computer name and username. Be prepared to enter the Windows XP license code and activate it after installation via the Internet.

After the installation is complete, you need to install all the drivers on the new motherboard. All programs, user files and operating system settings will remain the same.

Option 3 - Fixing the IDE Controller Driver in the Registry (Windows 7)

If you replace the motherboard without reinstalling Windows 7, things are a little more complicated. The previous 2 options do not work. It will also not be possible to restore Windows 7 by updating it from the installation disk, since this function can only be launched from an already loaded OS.

But don't be upset! ERD Commander will help us (download a CD image, or make a bootable USB flash drive ERD Commander). With its help, we will make adjustments to the Windows 7 registry necessary to boot on the new controller.

Let's get started! We boot from a burned disk or flash drive. In the download menu, select the version of ERD Commander 6.5 for Windows 7.

Selecting the ERD Commander version to download

To the question "Initialize a network connection in the background?" we answer No.

We answer the question “Reassign drive letters...” Yes.

Select the keyboard layout and press the button Further. Then select our operating system from the list and click Further.

Selecting the operating system to which ERD Commander will be connected

failed, the search for boot problems will begin.

Finding problems booting Windows 7

Click Cancel, so as not to waste time, since this startup recovery tool will not help if the motherboard is changed. To the question "Stop troubleshooting?" we answer Yes. The next message that the problem could not be resolved, do not be alarmed and press the button Ready.

In the window that appears, select the item Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset.

Now launch the registry editor.

First of all, you need to delete the registry branch HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Now you need to enable the launch of services that load standard drivers for IDE and SATA controllers.

Opening a thread HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services on the left side of the Registry Editor. Now check the following sections in this thread: amdide, amdsata, amdxata, atapi, intelide, msahci, pciide. Parameter Start everyone should have equal 0x00000000 (0). The value Start=0 - starts the service when Windows boots. If it is equal to 0x00000003 (3) double-click on the parameter name (Start) and change the value to 0 (picture below) and click OK.

After start will be set to 0 for all of the above registry keys, close the registry editor and restart the computer in normal mode. In most cases, this is enough to successfully boot Windows 7. Now you need to install drivers on the new motherboard.

If it doesn't help

If the above steps did not help and Windows 7 still does not load and displays the error STOP 0x0000007b, then the required controller driver is not loading. Let's try to enable the loading of all drivers known to the operating system.

To do this, set the parameter value Start equal to 0 in the following services: adp94xx, adpahci, adpu320, aic78xx, amdsbs, arc, arcsas, elxstor, HpSAMD, iaStorV, iirsp, LSI_FC, LSI_SAS, LSI_SAS2, LSI_SCSI, megasas, MegaSR, nfrd960, nvraid, nvstor, ql2300, ql40xx, SiSRaid2, SiSRaid4, vhdmp, vsmraid, alide, cmdide, nvraid, viaide .

Reboot the computer in normal mode. The OS should boot.

Booting Windows XP can also be restored in a similar way, but everything is more complicated there and I will not describe it in this article. Those who are interested can read it.

The result and painlessness of replacing the motherboard on a PC with Windows 7 depends on many factors. What is important here is the version of the operating system (OEM versions, for example, are attached to the hardware), and the models of motherboards (the more differences, the greater the chance that Win 7 will start acting up), and the platform (if you are “moving” from AMD to Intel or on the contrary, the likelihood of problems increases). Perhaps many remember what numbers Windows XP chipped off when replacing the motherboard... Seven, I must say, is not a gift in this regard either. Unlike Linux, simply changing the motherboard and then adding a couple of packages often doesn’t work here. To be honest, I only succeeded once out of six or seven. This, as you understand, does not lead to a stable result. Therefore, the question of how to replace the motherboard on a PC with Windows 7 without reinstalling the OS is still relevant.

Preparatory activities

Before starting such an operation, just in case, I make an image of the partition with the installed operating system. I try to have this image during any major iron replacement surgery. A couple of times, you know, it helped a lot. And I recommend it to you. This image is created using any program you like. For example, or.

Why does replacing a motherboard often lead to reinstalling Windows? The most common reason is incompatibility of motherboard chipset drivers. In particular, the incompatibility of the ATA/SATA controller driver with the new controller on the installed motherboard can become very sensitive. In order to avoid such problems, we can simply get rid of the drivers that can cause them.

How do we get rid of drivers? Yes, very simple! Using the sysprep utility. Perhaps someone is familiar with it from Windows XP. Personally, I used it to prepare reference images of system partitions with pre-installed software for mass installations on a PC 8 years ago.

This utility removes unique information from the installed Windows operating system. This includes cleaning the drivers installed on the system. Now is it clear why I suggested creating an image with the existing system? Sysprep does not touch the software and user settings. This utility must be run before connecting the hard drive with the system partition to the new motherboard.

To launch the utility, press the key combination: “Win ​​+ R”. In the window that appears, enter the command: “ C:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe” and click“OK.” After this, a window with the utility settings will open (see screenshot). By the way, the screenshot shows the settings that I suggest you make. In the “System Cleanup Actions” drop-down menu, select the “Go to the System Welcome Window (OOBE)” option. Next to it is a place for the “Preparing for use” checkbox. It should also be activated. In the “Shutdown Options” drop-down menu, select the “Shutdown” option.

After that, press the “OK” button to start cleaning the system. After this process is completed, the computer will turn off, which is why we, however, set the last option.

Replacing the motherboard and starting the system

Only after the computer is completely turned off do we turn it off from the network (it is better to unplug the cord from the outlet). And now you can replace the motherboard or connect a hard drive with the operating system installed and processed by sysprep to a new system unit.

During the first boot, the OS will install device drivers (it may ask for proprietary ones, so keep them ready). In addition, it will definitely ask you to set regional parameters, since they are also removed by the utility.

When the system asks for the username, there is a little trick. Do not enter a pre-existing username. Enter something else. Then delete this new user, but the system will not write anything unnecessary to your user profiles - the settings will not be lost. You will be able to access them after the first start of the updated system.

As a user, the system will ask you to confirm the date and time, as well as a number of other settings, including automatic installation of updates. After you enter all these settings (this is much faster than installing the system again), the desktop of the user you created specifically for this process will load. This account can now be deleted and logged in under old users.

The sysprep utility greatly increases the likelihood of replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows. In addition, such preparation of a previously installed system takes about half an hour. The only inconvenience is that you will have to activate Windows 7 again, since a number of versions of this OS are tied to hardware. In particular, this applies to the most common legal versions of Windows 7 in our country - OEM (pre-installed on new PCs and laptops). They will have to be activated by phone, since activation via the Internet in this case, alas, is not available due to the fact that the system will consider this operation to be reinstallation on another computer, which is prohibited by the terms of the license agreement of this version.

If you decide to do"upgrade"(updating) the motherboard, or replacing a non-working board with a new one, your old Operating System will no longer boot. While loadingwindows will arise blue screen (BSOD) with an error STOP 0x0000007B. This happens due to a change in the bus controllerATA/SATA.

The whole point is that Windows does not have the ability to independently change the controller driver upon boot. As a result, during boot the operating system - simply loses the hard drive and will not be able to continue running.
So the question is:

how to change the motherboard without reinstalling Windows 7? Reinstalling Windows is not difficult, but with all this All programs and settings will be lost. And this is quite often unacceptable!

Return Windows 7 updating it from the installation disk will also not work, because this function can only be launched from an already loaded OS.
But don't be upset! It will help us (download the disk image here: ERDC.rar). Unpack it from the archive (just drag and drop the file ERDC.iso- for example, on the desktop) and write to "blank" using a disc burning program ISO-Burner. Thanks to him, we we will make the necessary changes to, required to boot on a fresh controller.
Let's begin!

1. Boot from the burned disc. Select the version in the download menu ERD Commander 6.5 for Windows 7.

2. To the question "Initialize a network connection in the background?" we answer No.

3. To the question "Reassign drive letters..." we answer Yes.

4. Select the keyboard layout and press the button Further. After that, select our operating system from the list and click Further.

5. If the previous boot of Windows 7 failed, a search for boot problems will begin.
Let's press Cancel, so as not to waste time, because this startup recovery tool cannot help if the motherboard is changed. To the question "Stop troubleshooting?" we answer Yes. The next news that it was not possible to eliminate the problems, do not be afraid and press the button Ready.

6. In the window that appears, select the item Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset.

7. Now let's launch registry editor

8. First you need to delete the registry branch HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

9. Now you need to enable the launch of services that load standard controller drivers IDE And SATA.

10. Expanding the thread HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services on the left side of the Registry Editor. Now we check the following sections in this thread: amdide, amdsata, amdxata, atapi, intelide, msahci, pciide. Parameter Start everyone must have equal 0x00000000 (0). Meaning Start=0- starting the service when Windows boots. If it is equal 0x00000003 (3) double click on the parameter name (Start) and replace the value with 0 and press OK.

11. After start will be set to 0 for all the above registry keys, close the registry editor and reboot the PC in normal mode. As a rule, this is enough to successfully boot Windows 7. Now you need to install the drivers on a fresh motherboard.

In case it didn't help!
If the above did not help and Windows 7 still does not boot and displays an error STOP 0x0000007b, this means the required controller driver is not loaded. To correct the situation, we enable the loading of all drivers known to the operating system.

To achieve the desired result, set the parameter value Start equal 0 in the following services: adp94xx, adpahci, adpu320, aic78xx, amdsbs, arc, arcsas, elxstor, HpSAMD, iaStorV, iirsp, LSI_FC, LSI_SAS, LSI_SAS2, LSI_SCSI, megasas, MegaSR, nfrd960, nvraid, nvstor, ql2300, ql40xx, SiSRaid 2, SiSRaid4, vhdmp, vsmraid, aliide, cmdide, nvraid, viaide.

Reboot the PC in normal mode. The OS must boot.

Using an operating system on your own computer can vary greatly from user to user. Some people, having bought a new PC, mainly use the programs and tools built into Windows, as well as the default OS settings. Others work with many third-party applications and utilities, while customizing the system interface to their own taste.

And if in the first case, reinstalling the system and several applications is not a difficult task, then in the second, in addition to installing the OS, you will have to re-install all the necessary programs, personalize Windows and other settings. That is why many users are not eager to do this again. Moreover, the necessary applications may not be at hand or their settings were made by a specialist, who will now have to be called again.

In general, there can be a lot of reasons not to touch a normally working operating system, but the time comes when the internal components of your computer begin to become hopelessly outdated and replacing them with more productive hardware becomes an urgent need. And if installing a new power supply, RAM, separate processor or video card can be done relatively painlessly, that is, without reinstalling the operating system, then when replacing a hard drive or motherboard, everything is not so simple.

As you understand, all Windows files are stored on the computer's hard drive, so replacing it leads to an inevitable re-installation of the system. Although, this can be avoided by first making a complete backup copy of the current OS into an image and saving it on an old HDD or some other storage medium. Then all you have to do is unpack the resulting system backup onto a new disk, and you can continue working in the same Windows, using all previously installed programs.

In the case of replacing the motherboard on a Windows PC, the result may depend on many different factors, but the main thing is the choice of the future hardware platform (for example, when changing Intel to AMD or vice versa, problems are almost inevitable) and a set of system logic (chipset). In a word, the more differences the new motherboard has from the previously installed one, the less chance the old system will have to boot after it is replaced.

Despite the fact that Windows 7 has an impressive database of drivers in its arsenal, simply changing the motherboard and starting the previously installed system often fails. This is especially true for those boards that were released much later than the release of the system itself. But they are now the majority, since more than three years have passed since that moment. So the question of how to replace the motherboard on a personal computer with Windows without reinstalling it is still relevant.

Why does replacing a motherboard so often result in reinstalling Windows? As a rule, the most common reason is the incompatibility of the ATA/SATA hard drive controller drivers already installed in the system with the one equipped with the new motherboard. In this case, after replacing the hardware, when loading the OS you will receive a blue screen of death (BSOD) with the STOP error: 0x0000007B.

The fact is that when loading, Windows simply does not have the ability to change the hard drive controller driver on its own. As a result, a hard drive with the installed OS connected to the new controller is simply not seen by the system, and its further launch becomes impossible.

To avoid this situation, there is a fairly simple solution. Even before replacing the motherboard, start Windows, go to device Manager, there, by clicking on the arrow, expand the item IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and remove all installed devices from it.

To do this, right-click on all controllers one by one and select Delete in the context menu that opens. If after this a window appears Device removal confirmation, check the box Remove driver programs for this device and click OK.

In some cases, to complete the controller removal operation, the system will require a reboot. You shouldn't do this until you've gone through the entire list. Then simply turn off your computer and proceed to replace the motherboard. If you do restart your PC, you will have to do the entire procedure again, since Windows will restore all previously deleted devices at startup.

And yet, there are often cases when this method will not help you. For example, if the system logic set (chipset) on the new motherboard will be very technologically different from the previous one. In this case, in order to avoid problems with loading the system, you need to completely get rid of all drivers that can cause them. But how to do that?

There is one very useful utility in the Windows system, which not everyone, even advanced users, knows about. It's called Sysprep and allows you to delete system data from the operating system, including information about installed equipment, as well as drivers installed by the user.

Thus, in order to ensure successful booting of Windows on new hardware, it is necessary to clean the OS from old system information using this utility even before replacing components! Also, before running Sysprep, it is better to remove all installed anti-virus programs or disable self-defense in them. This is especially true for Kaspersky Lab products. Otherwise, when you start the OS with new hardware, you risk receiving the message: “Windows was unable to complete system setup. To resume setup, please reboot." But no reboot will help you. You will have to return the old equipment to its place and do everything again.

So, to launch the Sysprep utility, press the key combination Win + R and in the window that opens Execute Enter the full path to the executable file: “%windir%\System32\sysprep\sysprep”. For those who don't know, "%windir%" is a variable containing the path to the folder where the system is installed, most often "C:\Windows". And we use it because the location of the system folder and its name on different computers may be different.

In the system preparation program window that opens, in the option System cleaning action paragraph Go to the system welcome window (OOBE) we leave it unchanged. Next, put a checkmark next to the parameter Preparation for use.

In the drop down menu Shutdown Options select a team Shutdown. This is done so that immediately after cleaning the system, the computer does not reboot, because if it is not stopped in time, the process of initial Windows setup will start and you will have to repeat everything again!

Having completed all these simple settings, press the OK button to start the system cleaning procedure. This process is completely automatic and after it is completed, the computer should turn off on its own. Now you can start replacing the system board.

During the first launch of Windows with new hardware, the necessary device drivers will be installed and the corresponding entries will be made to the operating system registry. You will also have to re-enter your regional settings and account settings.

Please note that when the OS asks for a username, you cannot enter the old account name because it already exists. There is no need to be particularly upset about this. Enter any name, and after logging in for the first time, you can delete the new account and use the old one.

The only inconvenience that can await you after booting the system with new components is re-activating Windows. The fact is that a number of versions of this OS are tied to the installed hardware. In particular, the most common legal version of Windows 7 OEM, which is installed on new desktop computers and laptops. In this case, activation will most likely have to be carried out over the phone, since this will no longer be possible to do via the Internet due to the fact that the system will mistake your operation for installing Windows on another computer, which in this version is prohibited by the terms of the license agreement.

Strictly speaking, it was initially designed to create a customized Windows image for the purpose of reusing it. That is, simply put, Sysprep is a utility for cloning a prepared OS onto other computers. Most often, installing Windows from a pre-generated image is carried out in organizations where the set of basic work applications among employees, for the most part, may be the same.

True, in our time there are often situations when there is not one computer at home, but several at once. For example, one desktop PC is used as a multimedia center, another is in the child's room for studying, and a laptop is a business tool for parents. Despite the different purposes of each device, they may well have common software: an operating system, an office suite, a web browser, an archiving tool, a program for burning optical discs, various auxiliary utilities and much more.

In such a situation, it is convenient to have a “standby” OS image, from which, if necessary, you can always install the system with all the main applications. To create it, you just need to install Windows and all the necessary programs once on any computer, then use the Sysprep utility to delete system data using the method described above. Next, you will need to burn the image of the prepared system to a separate medium: a Blu-Ray disc (there is simply not enough space on a DVD), an external hard drive or a flash drive.

The key point here is that the computer must be booted from an optical disc or USB drive to be imaged, but never from the hard drive on which it is installed. If this happens, the process of initial OS setup will start and the entire procedure will have to be repeated again.

You can prepare a boot disk and save the Windows image in the desired location using special applications, for example Acronis True Image Home, a paid program, but it has a clear graphical interface and all the necessary tools. There are also free alternatives, for example, ImageX as part of the Windows PE shell. However, in this case, get ready to work with the command line.

Unpacking the image to the desired (target) computer is similar to removing it using the same programs.

If you are going to update/replace the motherboard, but do not want to reinstall Windows, drivers, programs, or you want to switch the operating modes of the SATA controller from IDE to AHCI or RAID (or vice versa), then this article is just for you!

Often, when you change the motherboard and start the PC without reinstalling Windows, you may see a “blue screen of death” (BSOD) with the error STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

The reason for this unpleasant picture is the inability of Windows to find the appropriate drivers for the SATA controller. This problem can be easily fixed without reinstalling Windows. To do this, all you need to do is “order” the operating system to use the standard SATA controller driver at startup, which is loaded after a clean reinstall of Windows. And the registry editor will help us with this.

Running “old” Windows on a new motherboard

To make changes to the Windows registry, simply follow the instructions below:
Before proceeding further, you need to decide on the following:

1. You are just about to replace the motherboard or change the IDE/AHCI operating mode and your PC is operating in normal normal mode, Windows starts
2. You have already replaced the motherboard and Windows will not start. In this case, you will have to use the offline registry editor.

1. Changing the registry before updating the motherboard or controller settings

This section is suitable for those whose PC starts normally and you are just going to replace the motherboard. Open, to do this, press the buttons " Win+R” and in the window that appears, type ““, then click Enter.

The Registry Editor opens for us. It looks like a “tree” with a bunch of folders and settings:

We need to go to the branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci

We find the Start parameter there and set it to “ 0 " (zero) and press the button " OK»

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\pciide

and do the same with the Start parameter

If you use Raid (if not, skip this step) then you need to do the same in the next branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStorV

This completes the preparation. Now you can install a new motherboard or change the parameters of the SATA controller. The next time you start Windows, it will boot with standard sata controller drivers. After startup, the drivers for the new controller will be automatically installed. After downloading, do not forget to install the new motherboard drivers that are included in the kit, or download them from the Internet. It is best to download original drivers from your motherboard manufacturer's website.

2. Changing the registry after updating the motherboard (windows does not start)

If you have already changed the motherboard and there is no way to boot Windows, for example, the old one has failed, then in this case you need to use an offline registry editor. To solve this problem, I prefer to use a recovery environment, which can be accessed, for example, using an operating system installation disk.
To open Registry Editor using the installation DVD or USB drive, boot your computer using the installation disc. You may need to select DVD/CD or USB as the first boot device in BIOS settings.
After loading, on the very first screen, click “Next” and then select “System Restore”.

If you have Windows 7, then on the first screen click next, then launch the command line

If you are using Windows 8.x or Windows 10, then you need to go to Diagnostics -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt.

In the command line, enter and press Enter.

In the registry editor, select the branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and from the File menu, click Load Hive.

Open the drive on which the operating system is installed.

Go to the Windows\system32\config directory, select the file system and click "Open".

Enter a name for the section (for example, Offline) and click OK.

By expanding the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch, you will see the created section (in our example it is called Offline).

Expand the new section and go to the following subsection:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Offline\ControlSet001\services\msahci

Open the Start parameter, change its value to 0 (zero), click OK.

Perform the same operation in a subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Offline\ControlSet001\services\pciide

Close Registry Editor, Command Prompt, and restart your computer. Remove the installation disc so that the operating system can boot normally. Windows should now start without any problems and then install the necessary hard drive controller drivers. Don't forget to install the drivers for your new motherboard later!

Conclusion

With this simple method you can save your working Windows operating system and all the programs installed on it when changing the motherboard or changing the parameters of the sata controller without reinstalling the system.
I hope this article was useful!