Hi guys,

 

If I upgrade my Motherboard, CPU and RAM but keep everything else can I then have all my programs still installed.

 

Specifically can I just then start up and go ahead and fly on MSFS 2020 or will I be prompted to reinstall.

 

Thank you

 

 

Yes it is possible.

I did just that this week.

However I prepared weeks in advance; did backups of key files.

My upgrade was easier because my Win11pro is recognized in my Microsoft account and so is MS Office.

I login with my pin associated with My account.

So by using the same SDD from the previous PC, all I needed to do was to activate again which was done in a few clicks. I had 4 SDD<s which were located on the exact same SATA numbers (location).

Never had a so easy upgrade considering the changes: cpu, mb, ram, video card, case and power supply.

I know it is also possible if you don,t have a MS account, you need to re-activate by phone. There are Youtubes about that exact procedure.

Cheers,

Pierre

I do not recommend upgrading your hardware without reinstalling Windows as well. It can be done but you could end up with an unstable environment, and then you will be wondering whether your new hardware is faulty or that old drivers are causing havoc.

Even if you do, you should have a backup anyway just in case it doesn't work. If your MSFS root folder is on a seperate drive you can leave it but I would disconnect it temporarily before installing Windows just to prevent any mistakes. If not, you should copy the MSFS Official and Community folders to another drive since that will save you downloading the whole sim again.

Since the settings are stored in the cloud you should not need to go through all that again after installing MSFS and logging in with your current Xbox account.

If you do try without reinstalling Windows, it might be convenient to remove all motherboard (chipset, audio, network etc) drivers beforehand and download the drivers for the new hardware so you have them available after you have replaced the hardware.

 

Did this a 3 weeks ago. (Old components 5900x / Socket AM4 MB / DDR 4 ram - New components 7800x3d / Socket AM5 MB / DDR5 Ram)

A few things to note. Windows OEM licenses will not carry over so be prepared to shell out for a new windows activation key if your previous windows key was an OEM one attached to the motherboard your replacing. If you have a full retail license then you should be able to do the upgrade and re activate with no problem.

If you are doing an upgrade from lets say AMD socket AM4 to Socket AM5 please uninstall the chipset drivers and all associated drivers and software (Pretty much all software associated with the motherboard. This may include

The chipset drivers

motherboard Network/wireless/Bluetooth drivers and software ( do this one last )

Audio drivers and related applications.

RGB applications and extra motherboard monitoring software (Example asus armor crate)

Once the new components are installed and all the new components are working as they should in the bios  you can move to install the new chipset drivers as soon as possible  and install the drivers for all the new components. 

Ensure that the correct and updated drivers are all present in the device manager and look for and uninstall old or duplicate entries from the device manager.

Ensure windows is activated and your account is properly set up on the upgraded PC. Also log into the MS store and Xbox to get the sim to link to the upgraded PC if you have an MS store MSFS installation. If not then i presume you would log into your steam account to ensure everything is linked.

There are recommendations against doing upgrades without a reinstall but if the OS is well maintained  and the end user is detailed enough to know exactly what drivers  and related apps  are associated with the old motherboard and removes them before changing the motherboard then there is usually not much issue when the new one is dropped in.

Please note that i have not performed an in place upgrade on an intel system in a few years but the protocol should be similar as its just a matter of removing as much trace of your old motherboard and its onboard devices and related software then swapping the components and having windows adjust as if it was a new install in a nutshell. Just make sure the new components are in a stable state before installing stuff. The last thing you need is a bad install due to overheating cpu or unstable memory giving off bad read /writes.

Oh and as to your last question regarding MSFS2020

After logging into the MS Store and Xbox App the sim did reinstall the BASE FILE for msfs2020. What you need to look out for is to make sure when the sim starts and prompts you to press the install button you make sure that the install location is where you had the sim previously installed. Once you set the installation directory to where the sim was previously installed the sim will check the files and start up as normal. You will know that something is wrong if the sim starts to download files.. Stop the program and locate the correct directory and try again if this happens.

Good luck!

Edited August 5, 20241 yr by Maxis

Thank you guys, every reply has been very helpful..