thanks, james, for your thoughts. though I DO NOT get a POST screen, all remains blank, LCD screen remains in power save mode and does not kick in as usual when I start the PC. weird. my PSU is a rather high quality (?) be quiet PSU.

just wanted to let you know that it was not the PSU, got my asus p8p67 with i5 2500k yesterday, with a be quiet dark rock advanced and 8gb corsair ddr3, installed and all fine. well, almost. pc starts all fine, so far so good. but win7 is not cooperating anymore. says it cannot start, the system check say - clever system - that the reason for not being able to fire win7 up are changed hardware. unfortunately, I could so far not fix this, tried with booting from Win7 dvd several times, it is starting to repair but in the end does not fix the issue. actually, it advises me in the end to do a custom install which means I will loose all my setting and programs. that sucks. tabs, feel free to move this to the hw forum now as I will need some advise how to proceed. I have no issue to install win7 again but don't want to loose my user files. anybody knows whether a custom install will erase my HDD? Or can I still choose to install in the previous folder so I have at least all my documents and files under /users/documents? Also, I do not want to loose my iTunes library. After the last full install 1 yr ago I had to build the itunes db again, generally no big issue but it looses then all ratings, playlists and such I set up before.any guidance is appreciatedphil

Phil,You'll need to back all your stuff up and do a clean install of Win7 most likely. All the stuff you mentioned can be easily backed up. (you don't need to back up the entire drive, just the important files)You really need to install to a completely blank (formatted) HD though, that's the only way to guarantee that you don't have leftover crap causing problems.

Phil,You'll need to back all your stuff up and do a clean install of Win7 most likely. All the stuff you mentioned can be easily backed up. (you don't need to back up the entire drive, just the important files)You really need to install to a completely blank (formatted) HD though, that's the only way to guarantee that you don't have leftover crap causing problems.

I was afraid so :-(. well, will see what I need. the personal documents are easy, but anybody knows how to backup the itunes library?philp.s. ryan, are you late or early? must be around 2 or 3 am in AZ? I was up till 2am last night to install the new hardware and try to get 7 to run. today's not my day now :)EDIT: yes, I know how to use google :-). Would this be the appropriate way to backup my itunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451 ? I mean really just the library and not the music data as such since that is on a separate hdd anyway and will not be deleted.

This should help with iTunes migration http://uneasysilence.com/how-to-backup-your-windows-itunes/

This should help with iTunes migration http://uneasysilence.com/how-to-backup-your-windows-itunes/

thanks, andy. that helps. finally, do I really need to reinstall my fsx which is on a separate hdd? I mean, can I possibly just run the flight1 registry tool to tell new win7 where fsx is located? will probably not work with addons like pmdg and aerosoft but would this do any harm?

Yes you do need to reinstall FSX there is a heck of a lot that goes on behind the scenes as far as the OS and Simconnect is concerned, just be sure to run FSX to the cockpit of an aircraft before and after you install each update, i.e. SP1 then SP2 or acceleration otherwise you will have problems. Now would also be a good time to install FSX to a non program files folder if you haven't being doing so already.

Now would also be a good time to install FSX to a non program files folder if you haven't being doing so already.

sounds like my evenings are planned :( had fsx and all addons on an own drive already, will keep it that way.

sounds like my evenings are planned :( had fsx and all addons on an own drive already, will keep it that way.

ok, all fine. installed 7 with rebooting several times due to windows updates, took me alone until 1am again. what a hassle. first thing then was fsx followed by acceleration, first test flight at 2am. jeez, i really liked what I saw so far. smooth like never seen before. and not even overclocked (which will come sooner or later, I am not agressive there, 4ghz would be nice, not going after 4.7 or 4.9) next will be rex, was downloading the full v2.0 from flightsimstore which is next tonight followed by overdrive. then ultimate traffic 2 and then my 3 pmdg birds will finally follow. anything else can wait :-).p.s. thanks guys for the itunes tips, re-installed and took my library without complaints!