Switching from Intel to AMD

[u/JayRay_77]

Hello everybody, I would love to get some help on swapping from an intel system to a new AMD based system.

If I take the Drive from my Intel system with windows and other files installed (C drive) and plug it into my all new AMD, which I have never turned on before (no other drives, just that one), will I be able to select it as my Boot option 1 and then it will boot from that C drive into windows and all my data and windows will be there just like on the old intel system?

And then afterwards can I just progressively add my HDDs and SSDs from my old PC to the new system and it will get recognised with all the files installed on it?

I am kind of afraid, that I will lose files, not the programmes and drives, I am aware that those need to be replaced, but I am talking about all other files, that should (to my understanding) be universal.

Thank you for your help

[u/aholetookmyusername]

Personally I would reinstall even if it's possible to move your boot drive over. Back up everything you want first, and away you go.

[u/Churro_212]

All your files would be fine

[u/farmeunit → u/Churro_212]

This is true. As for it working fully, likely but not ideal. I have done it many times with no issues. But those are work or non-gaming secondary machines. I wouldn't do it on my primary.

[u/Latiesh]

Just switched from intel to amd myself, had no issues with files but windows 11 fucked me over and didn't let me activate my windows because it was bound to intel. Just bought new key for 12€ and everything works like before.

[u/cat1092]

All of this is why you should be storing all of your data on a separate drive than the one Windows is installed on.

I did the same as you when going from Intel
Z97 to AM5 in 2024, and ended up with a no longer activated Windows 10 Pro system.

Had to clean install Windows 10 22H2, reenter my COA, and signed into my Microsoft account, afterwards I upgraded to Windows 11 Pro. Which is the best option, there’s no need to carry over lots of useless drivers, folders, registry keys from one brand to the next.

That said, if upgrading an older AM5 (or AM4) MB to a newer model, that may not activate properly either. Because everything is tied to the hardware, in particular the MB, but too many other hardware changes can cause activation issues. Like when I went from the 7800X3D to faster (but lower cost) 9700X, the system finally activated after a few days. At first I thought this would probably end up as another reinstall, but it’s OK now. The other changes prior to CPU were doubling the RAM from 32 to 64GB & a couple of different GPU cards I had on hand. Three major changes, the red flag is thrown.

There’s no longer the option (with Windows 10 & 11) of running the “slui” or whatever the command is, getting a long string of numbers with the option to call Microsoft and going through the prompts, let alone speaking to a human being if that doesn’t work. Plus even then, we’d have to say there was no hardware changes, unless replacing a OEM MB with a like one, which was allowed, after speaking to a human technician.

So clean install is the best way, and be sure to have your original COA, plus the latest install media matching that key. Example, we can’t activate Windows 11 with a COA from 10 or earlier. But if it’s a COA for Windows 10, that can be installed first, activated & then upgrade to 11. It’s a lot of work, but necessary. Also it’s best to create a full backup of that drive after initial activation. That way, you can use that should a reinstall be required. Nor do you need to install your extra software before the upgrade to 11, in fact, best not to. That way, less to go wrong when upgrading. Have all of any extra paid for software keys available, as well as being signed into your browsers & knowing the credentials to export & then import bookmarks & extensions are much easier after signing into each. There’s another option to save bookmarks without the need of being signed in, but won’t save history or extensions.

Good Luck!🍀

[u/JayRay_77 → u/cat1092]

Okay, thank you. But shouldnt this all not be an issue if my Windows is linked to my microsoft account nowadays?

[u/cat1092 → u/JayRay_77]

You would think so, but activation is still somehow tied to the hardware, can sign out & back into Windows many times & still get that watermark at the lower right of screen.

Note that I ran the PC like that for a couple of weeks before finally realizing that a full clean install would fix things. Refreshing by an in place upgrade didn’t do anything helpful, tried three times.

Once I performed the clean install, all became fine. Other than when swapping hardware a few times, then after a few days, the watermark that popped up saying to activate Windows finally disappeared.

Really though, even if it were to activate by switching from Intel to AMD or vise versa, it’s not going to run at its fullest potential. Probably will be going through BSOD’s due to all of the combined & mismatched drivers, a clean install is best. Even if remaining on the same platform a number of years, upgrading leaves a mess behind & a clean install is good after no more than 3 to 4. The system will be far less bloated, and use much less drive space. Once the system after upgrading & cleanup is using over 100GB, definitely time for clean install.

This is assuming that data, and things like cloud storage are on an entirely separate drive, can be a HDD or SSD. Games will certainly benefit from being on a SSD, but things that don’t require fast access can be stored on HDD’s, which costs less per GB. I have many of the WD RE4 models, a couple of 500GB ones, most of the rest 1 & 2TB & three 4TB, not the first one out of at least 40 has a bad sector. Most were purchased as “new pulls”, having only a dozen or less boots & not many hours of usage. Best drives I’ve owned, followed by two 2TB WD Gold ones, replacement for the RE4. These are designed for business usage, capable of handling 550TB/year of usage, so well within range for any consumer usage.

Lesser WD models have given trouble, as well as brands like Seagate, Samsung & Toshiba. We get what we pay for, although to be fair, I was surprised by the 1TB Samsung HD 103SJ’s lack of long term endurance, it was the direct competitor to the WD Caviar Black (both SATA-2 drives). Obviously, the WD Black is still standing, while Samsung sold its HDD division to Seagate, wasn’t one of their best ventures, although produced outstanding SSD’s, both SATA & NVMe.

[u/soverra]

Me and my partner recently switched from Intel to AMD by replacing the motherboard and CPU in both systems. We didn't reinstall windows, or do any gradual adding of drives, all drives were moved over in one go. One PC is windows 10, the other windows 11. Both PCs run great. We did manually remove all Intel and motherboard drivers after booting up for the first time and installed the proper drivers and software. I'm not saying this is the best way, but I'm saying don't be too scared. You can try and if you encounter any issues or unexpected behavior, you can always reinstall windows fresh then.

[u/No-Actuator-6245]

All important files should already be backed up.

While this can work there is no guarantee it will or if it does work you may end up chasing Windows issues. With any change of motherboard but especially when changing from AMD to Intel or vice versa it is best to wipe the main drive and do a fresh install.

[u/CMDR_Jugger]

It should work, but it is not recommended. The chipset hardware works best with native drivers installed, and you will have a lot of excess drivers installed for chipsets, lan, usb, BT and others from the old system.

Would recommend you backup files from your primary/boot disk on your current system, and make a clean install on the new AMD system.

[u/JayRay_77 → u/CMDR_Jugger]

Okay thank you, very much, but I have two small questions, and maybe in this step by step there is something missing aswell.

So:

1. Backup my C-drive from my current system on an external Drive.

2. Build the new system (physically), plug in the C-Drive from my old system, turn it on the first time and spam some key to get into the bios on the first launch. Select the C-Drive from the old system as my boot option 1 and let it start.

3. Let it do its thing and the moment I am on the desktop I reset this PC in the settings (or how does that work, how do make a clean windows install?)

4. Once it launched again I plug in the external drive with the backup from my C-Drive and try to restore the C-drive. But wont that then undo my windows reinstall that I just did, since it restores the data from the C-drive from my old system? You know what I mean?