Changing the motherboard...first time for someone new
Changing the motherboard...first time for someone new
I’m completely new to the PC world. In short, I bought a prebuilt about a year ago and have been upgrading it slowly. I recently got a decent motherboard from Newegg. I was trying to sleep when it happened. Once the new motherboard is in place—I'm in trouble. I don’t know where to start next. Here are some of my questions: 1. Will the PC boot with my current M.2 slot? 2. Do I need to reinstall Windows because it’s an OEM product? 3. If I do need to reinstall Windows, must I buy a license key and store it on a USB drive, or can I install it directly from the PC? I have a Microsoft account linked to my PC. 4. Will I lose all my games? My son and I have saved a lot of games this year. 5. Are there any other problems I should be aware of? I’m not very tech-savvy, but I’m getting into it. I apologize in advance if I’ve broken any rules or posted the wrong information. I’m just beginning to feel stressed. Thanks for your help.
1. It works smoothly on a fresh motherboard when the drive isn’t encrypted—unless it is or you wouldn’t know.
2. No reinstallation is required, though (3.) you may need to re-activate Windows using a new key. This lets you do that temporarily.
4. There’s no reason your games would be lost; as long as all drives are reconnected, they should still appear.