I have a desktop with a lot of installed programs and things that I don't want to lose. Even backing up can be a pain and some data may still be lost.
I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade the existing computer parts such as the Motherboard, RAM, CPU , Power supply and Case without changing the internal hardrive so I would ideally keep everything I have, it'd just be faster.
If so, is there a shop in Melbourne that would do this for a reasonable fee?
"Without a fresh reinstall, it'll bluescreen or not boot at all since the chipset is now completely different."
Your not wrong. Computer may still boot sometimes, but it will be very hit or miss. Been there, done that, not going to do it again.
there is a chance that it might not work due to driver issues but it has worked for me couple times.
Only thing I had to redo was the windows installation which needed to be re activated because the mac address was different with the new mobo.
If it's Windows 8 or 8.1 chances are it will work fine. I have swapped hard drives of a few desktops with Windows 8. On boot it re installs all the drivers and shows the welcome screen as you would see on first boot. On older versions, as stated above, it might show BSOD.
many things you can upgrade as long as you choose compatible parts.
upgrading the motherboard might be an issue. cpu & ram will depend on your motherboard
i strongly suggest you backup your hdd (complete image) before attempting anything non-trivial
easy. backup the data you need to external hdd, but most of the time you need to reinstall programs (including window) which is good to make sure the new system run smoothly.
most of your programs might be outdated anyway - the data is the most important part.
Before you even think about this, first buy an external hard drive and back everything you don't want to lose forever. All hard drives fail eventually. You will lose your precious photos/documents/etc PERMANENTLY if you don't have them backed up.
Short answer, no.
Long answer, maybe: you usually can't just stick your old hard drive in a completely new PC, windows doesn't like it. But as long as all your data is backed up, you can copy it onto a new PC which has a fresh install of windows and all your software on it.
Most people buy a new PC, and just stick the old hard drive too in as a spare or secondary drive, so they can keep it handy and make sure they've copied everything from the old PC before they reformat (wipe) or destroy it.
How old is your old PC? It may not be hardware that's slowing it down.
Bought in 2008, and it wasn't the latest hardware at the time.
Backing up and buying a completely new computer is an option but it's always a lengthy process to re-install everything. Then I feel bad cause I still have a working computer and buying a new one just for more power and speed seems a little non 'Ozbargain-like' y'know?
Ninite, google it. Saves so much time.
Thank you kind sir. This is pretty good!
I've done this twice before when changing motherboards and once when changing CPU and motherboard.
As you can see the consensus is usually no you can't do this, but that's wrong and most of the time these people haven't looked deep enough.
What you want is a tool called 'Sysprep' which is built into Windows, what this does is it lets you generalise a Windows installation by stripping drivers & certain configurations that can cause Windows to not boot when you have changed hardware.
Keep in mind you need to run the tool before changing your hardware(motherboard/cpu etc..)
here is a guide on how to use it
(you want method one: "Changing hardware components but keeping old hard disk(s)")
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-instal…
In this tutorial we use System Preparation Tool (sysprep) to prepare your Windows 7 installation to be moved to a new computer, keeping all your installed applications, program settings and user profiles. You can use this method for instance when you have bought a new PC and want to transfer your existing setup completely, without need to reinstall everything, or when you want to make major hardware changes like change the motherboard or GPU, which would usually cause Windows to stop booting normally.
Also please note this if you're using an OEM copy of Windows
Using this method causes Windows 7 to lose all activation information, and it needs to be reactivated afterwards. If your Windows 7 is an OEM version, you might not be able to reactivate it, at least not without phone activation option.
Yes you can.
Be aware though, that you will need to start over with a fresh install of Windows if you upgrade your motherboard, since the copy of Windows you have installed has drivers installed for the old motherboard. Without a fresh reinstall, it'll bluescreen or not boot at all since the chipset is now completely different.