Upgrading method

[thedenbpiece]

The past 2 times I have upgraded my mobo and processor I backed up all my personal data onto cds and then reformatted my hard drive and did a fresh install of windows from scratch, and then went through adding drivers programs, folders etc...
I am about to change mobo again, and was wondering whether I need to go to such lengths again as it was very longwinded.
Most people on these forums upgrade hardware on a regular basis and I was wondering whether you could share your methods and give any hints or tips.
Perhaps a good upgrading how to guide could form a good sticky??

[Ceefer]

Have a look at this sticky from the arstechnica forums:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...4&m=1400925745

[Pands]

keep in mind your current mbo chipset and your new mobo chipset, example is , current nf2 chipset and your new board has a nf2 chipset, you should be ok, whereas if your new board was for example, a via chipset, youd almost certainly need a fresh install. windows doesnt like mixing chipsets

[Flibb]

I keep all stuff i want saved on a seperate partition, also docs etc are backed up on a tape drive. I also download all new drivers before formatting my main partition that way dont have to worry about getting a virus the first ime i logon after installing.