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Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
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Message 1695060 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 8:52:05 UTC

Greetings,

I have SETI set to no new tasks. I will be ordering a new MoBo, CPU and 2 video cards today. Once BOINC has finished with the current cache of WUs, I will be upgrading this PC with the MoBo, CPU and one of the cards.

My question is this: Is it possible to upgrade the hardware without having to re-install Windows? I seem to remember someone here doing that some time ago. I'm thinking that the MoBo install disc will replace the old drivers with new ones, or at least disable the old ones when installing the new ones.

Any advice would be most appreciated. :)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
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Message 1695064 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 9:12:18 UTC - in response to Message 1695060.  

I would say that 'most' times you can get away with using a previous windows install and updating it. BUT for optimum performance you should consider a clean install.

As for BOINC, I would set the cache to 0.01 days ... so you have a small cache until you get the parts.
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Message 1695071 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 9:33:35 UTC
Last modified: 24 Jun 2015, 9:34:02 UTC

Changing the mobo i`d suggest to reinstall windows.
It might work but you can run into trouble weeks later.
Once i replaced the mobo which was exactely the same model but i had to install win a few days later because of unexpected BSODs.


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Message 1695079 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 9:48:13 UTC

it will not work...'cause the Win will not be activated! it will see a computer as a new one...so either you can boot & activate again...
or wait for some time & activate!

btw, here is a link to some article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/236731/more_pc_upgrade_mistakes.html

p.s. I noticed that in some istances Vista (or later Win) are prone to deactivate with new BIOS...or switching same version of MBO, will get you deactivated (Win remembers the serial number of MBO)...


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Message 1695086 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 9:57:57 UTC - in response to Message 1695060.  

My question is this: Is it possible to upgrade the hardware without having to re-install Windows?

If the system is presently stable, it shouldn't be an issue.

I'd suggest replacing the motherboard & CPU, but keep the current video card. The less changes you make, the less likely hood there is for problems. Make sure BOINC is still disabled when you reboot for the first time.

When booting for the first time, the system will find new hardware, search for drivers, install drivers, find new hardware... over & over & over & over & over again. If the system is set to allow searching for drivers online, things should eventually settle down.
If not it will probably find new hardware, but not be able to find & install suitable drivers in which case you can then load them from the motherboard driver CD, or manually go the manufacturer's web site & download them & install them manually.

Once you've got all the new hardware found, drivers installed & everything running OK & Windows re-activated, that's the time to then pull out the old video card, install the new one & manually install the latest drivers for it.

Once that's all done & everything is chugging along nicely, then you can restart BOINC.
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Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
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Message 1695112 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 11:09:50 UTC

Greetings all,

Wow! I like this. It looks like it is 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other. After reading all your posts and suggestions, I'm leaning toward a clean install. It looks like retaining the current install will be more hassle than it is worth. Besides, it's been many years since I installed Win7.

One thing I'm NOT looking forward to are all the Win7 updates. :( Oh well, such is life in the world of PC upgrades. :)

Thank you all for the advice! :)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
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Message 1695114 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 11:12:40 UTC

one batch of updates is 200 pieces...& it fequently hangs! ;)


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Message 1695200 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 16:49:05 UTC

I have done a few factory resets / reinstalls and if you allow windows to try and install 200 plus updates it most likely will stall or fail. I find manually selecting about 50 updates for every reboot has good results. A clean install will most likely give you the least amount of issues long term.

Bob
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Message 1695209 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 17:14:16 UTC

I am not having good luck with the rig I changed mobos on.
The original mobo died, and the replacement was similar, but not the same.
I have been fighting to get the vid drivers loaded properly, with no success.
It is now crunching on CPU only.
As soon as I have the time, it's back to saving some files to USB stick and wiping the drive for a fresh install of XP.

I have gotten away with this kind of swap before without as much entanglement.
But not this time.

As usual, YMMV, but have things backed up and saved enough that you can go the full install route if things don't go as one wishes them to.
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Message 1695243 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 19:24:08 UTC

I just got a new motherboard and will be doing a similar upgrade. I plan to do a clean install, mainly because it was a simple machine with only BOINC and the general GPU apps and monitor programs installed. Is it ok to cancel tasks? I know they show up as an error but details that it was aborted by the user. I had one of those Suspicious Pulse result wu that would cycle over and over and had to cancel it.
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Message 1695254 - Posted: 24 Jun 2015, 19:52:43 UTC - in response to Message 1695243.  

i don't see a problem with cancelling tasks, they just get sent to another user
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Message 1695417 - Posted: 25 Jun 2015, 7:45:16 UTC - in response to Message 1695112.  

Wow! I like this. It looks like it is 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other. After reading all your posts and suggestions, I'm leaning toward a clean install. It looks like retaining the current install will be more hassle than it is worth. Besides, it's been many years since I installed Win7.

One thing I'm NOT looking forward to are all the Win7 updates. :(

Might as well just replace the motherboard & try the updating option. If it works, well & good. If not, then the clean installation is the only option left.
Grant
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Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
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Message 1695537 - Posted: 25 Jun 2015, 14:03:53 UTC
Last modified: 25 Jun 2015, 14:14:49 UTC

Greetings,

I now have all but one of the video cards ordered and they are on the way as I speak.

This and the i7-4771 cpu will be here tomorrow:


This will be here on Tuesday, coming from California:


I will be using my existing video card until next month when I can afford another one. We don't do CUDA so the above card will do just fine. In the mean time, I shall have a virtually new PC this weekend. Woohoo! :)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
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Message 1695571 - Posted: 25 Jun 2015, 16:03:08 UTC - in response to Message 1695537.  

Is there a question here somewhere, or why are you posting your new hardware?
Or is this some kind of advertising?
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Message 1695616 - Posted: 25 Jun 2015, 17:36:44 UTC

I just did a motherboard swap last night. From a cheapo ECS Z97-PK to an Asus Z97-A. They have the same chipsets and audio. I was using the onboard video so I just hooked up the hard drive and let Windows 7 sort it out. It went flawless, just had to update my LAN driver and add an ASUS probe driver.
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Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
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Message 1695661 - Posted: 25 Jun 2015, 19:53:42 UTC - in response to Message 1695571.  

Is there a question here somewhere, or why are you posting your new hardware?
Or is this some kind of advertising?

Greetings,

The thread started out as a query and evolved into what it is now. No advertising is intended. There are other similar threads. If there's a problem with this thread, you can go to the moderators. If the thread is deemed not worthy, I would not have a problem with it being removed. ;)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
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Message 1695902 - Posted: 26 Jun 2015, 8:52:38 UTC

Greetings,

BOINC is now working on its last WU.

It looks like this weekend is perfect for a hardware upgrade what with the computing center down time tomorrow.

I am so anxious to see how this new build will handle BOINC. It's gotta be much better than this 1st generation i7. And I'm thinking I won't have the heat problem this i7-860 has.

Dang! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning... :D

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
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Message 1695909 - Posted: 26 Jun 2015, 9:28:44 UTC

Correction BOINC is not working on its last WU - BOINC does no calculations it only schedules tasks for the applications to work on.
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Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
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Message 1695953 - Posted: 26 Jun 2015, 12:46:40 UTC - in response to Message 1695909.  

Correction BOINC is not working on its last WU - BOINC does no calculations it only schedules tasks for the applications to work on.

Greetings Rob,

Yeah, semantics. I say tomato, you say tomahto... ;) Thanks for the correction. :)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)
CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
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Message 1695959 - Posted: 26 Jun 2015, 13:29:01 UTC - in response to Message 1695571.  

Is there a question here somewhere, or why are you posting your new hardware?
Or is this some kind of advertising?


I don't know, I'm always happy to see someone get new hardware and follow their progress with it. I can't imagine I'm the only one in that boat. Besides, it is at least relevant to their "Number Crunching" SETI.
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